The End of the Line: A Grey Story
by lynnmovielover
Summary: This is a sequel to The Waiting Game.  The story opens with the death of Hector Williams and traces how this changes the lives of Sara and Charlie.
1. Chapter 1

Hector Williams was dead.

Sara could hardly believe what she was hearing. "It was a mission," Molly told her, "so I don't know much about the details, but Charlie was hurt badly. He's all right, but he's going to be hospitalized when he comes home."

She couldn't absorb what she was hearing. She sat down and just stared at Molly.

"When?" Sara said when she was finally able to get sound to come out of her mouth.

"I don't know, sweetheart. We'll just have to wait and see. I promise to let you know if I hear anything."

"Okay," she said as she walked into the closet in Molly's living room. It would have been funny if she hadn't been so lost in grief and worry.

Molly took her arm and led her to the couch. "You're in no shape to drive anywhere. Just stay here for a while until you feel more like heading home. I think you may be in shock."

After more than an hour of watching Sara struggle with her grief, Molly offered her a glass of water. "How are you feeling?"

Sara drank from the glass, but didn't answer.

Molly lifted Sara's feet and scooted her down on the couch. Then she covered her with a blanket.

"Just stay here for tonight. Maybe we'll hear something by morning."

Sara's expression remained blank.

"Charlie told me that you didn't talk for a while after you lost your baby, but you don't have that luxury this time. Charlie is going to need your strength."

Sara heard what Molly was saying, but she needed some time to get control of her emotions. Tomorrow would be soon enough to start thinking about what was going to come next.

She laid her head down on one of the couch pillows and closed her eyes. She had to try and get some sleep. Molly was right about Blue needing her strength.

At one o'clock in the morning, Molly shook Sara's shoulder gently. "Colonel Ryan just called. Charlie will arrive here by medevac in a couple of hours. Get ready and I'll drive you to the hospital.

By the time Sara freshened up, Molly was ready to go. They arrived at the hospital in time to meet Colonel Ryan, and he entered the emergency room with them.

"What can you tell us, Colonel?" Molly asked.

"Charlie should be arriving any minute. He has two bullet wounds that are serious, but the reports I'm getting tell me that Hector was instrumental in saving Charlie's life before he was killed."

Sara swiped at the tears that had started running down her cheeks. She was going to have to summon more strength if she was going to help Blue. How devastated would he be after losing Hector?

Just then the helipad doors opened and a gurney was pushed in by several doctors and nurses. Sara wanted to see Blue for herself, so she followed the path of the gurney until it turned into a treatment room. She caught a glimpse of his ashen face, and she could see tubes extending from his arms and his side. Then the doors closed and she couldn't see anything else, but she felt better just knowing he was nearby and was getting help.

"Ladies, I'll check in with you to find out how Charlie is doing. I need to follow up on the return of Hector's body along with the rest of the team. Keep your cell phones on."

With that, the Colonel left and Sara and Molly took seats in the waiting room. After two hours, a doctor came out to update them.

"Are you Sara Franklin?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, doctor. How is Blue… I mean Charlie?"

"Sergeant Grey wanted me to fill you in. He has two very serious bullet wounds. He's extremely lucky to be alive. An excellent medic tended his wounds and that's what saved his life. There's a lot of pain, but we can get that under control now that he's here. I believe he's out of danger. We'll be moving him into a room on the third floor in about twenty minutes."

"Thank you so much, doctor. Is it all right if I meet him upstairs?" Sara asked.

The doctor had an odd look on his face. "I don't know quite how to say this, but he has asked that you leave the hospital and not return."

"I don't understand," said Sara.

"I'm sorry if it isn't what you were hoping to hear." With the message relayed, the doctor turned and walked away leaving Sara standing dumbfounded in the waiting room.

"Well I'm sure Blue's just worried about me being here in a hospital, that it would bring back bad memories of the last time we were in a hospital together… after Jung-Su. I'm sure he's just trying to spare me any pain," Sara said.

Molly wasn't so sure, but she nodded just to keep from upsetting Sara further.

"I am going to meet him upstairs," Sara said.

"You know, it might be better if you saw him in the morning. Let him get settled into his room and let him get some rest." Molly tried to urge her toward the door, but Sara wouldn't budge.

"No, I'll let him rest as much as necessary, but I have to see that he's all right. I won't be a bother, but I can't leave."

Molly was concerned but heard the determination in Sara's voice. "All right, let's go upstairs and find out which room Charlie will be in."

By the time they got upstairs, Blue's room was already being prepared. Sara was relieved it wasn't an intensive care ward, but there were still a lot of monitors and equipment waiting for the next patient.

Then she saw nurses wheeling Blue off the elevator.

She smiled at him as he passed and tried to take his hand, but he pulled it away and croaked, "Leave."

Stunned she said, "But Blue…"

Before she could finish, he again said, "Please leave." He winced and his voice was filled with pain. When she tried to follow him into his room, a nurse intercepted her.

"I'm sorry, but he has asked that you not be admitted into his room."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, Mam, but you will have to leave now." The nurse was insistent.

"Come on, honey," Molly said. "Let's go. Maybe he'll feel more like seeing you tomorrow." She led Sara to the elevator and got her on right before Sara broke down completely."

"Molly, what's going on?" she cried. "Why won't he see me?"

"He's lost someone very important to him and he's hurt and vulnerable. You're going to have to give him some space and understanding while he learns to cope with what's happened." They reached the lobby and the elevator door opened. "Come on, I'll take you to my place and you can stay with us for a few days."

"All right." Sara was in a daze as Molly put her arm around her and led her to the car.

When they got back to the house, Molly gave Sara a mild sedative and put her to bed in Betsy's room. She hadn't heard from Jonas yet, and that worried her especially since one of his team had been killed. Hector had been almost like a son to them and she already missed him, but right now, all of her energy was focused on Sara and what she might have to do to help her in the next few days. Charlie's attitude bothered Molly almost as much as it bothered Sara. Sara and Charlie had been inseparable over the last few months. They seemed so much in love, but a tragedy like this one could change a man. When Molly's head finally hit the pillow, she worried about how this blow might affect their relationship.

When Molly woke up in the morning, Sara was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

When Molly awoke the next morning, she went to check on Sara, but found that she had already left. Molly could guess where Sara was headed and thought she'd better follow her. Sara could be setting herself up for even more heartbreak.

* * *

Molly had wanted her to wait, but that wasn't an option. Sara had to see Blue. When she walked in the front door, the hospital was bustling with the activity, but nobody seemed to notice or care that she was there. Doctors, nurses, and orderlies left little more than a slight breeze as they passed her while going about their duties. Some read reports in manila folders. Others talked urgently on cell phones while waiting on elevators that seemed to run on a schedule of their own choosing.

Sara snuck unobserved onto the third floor. The nurses would be in and out of patients' rooms. If she could wait until they were all busy, she could sneak into Blue's room. She hid her face behind a magazine and camped out in the corner of one of the waiting rooms. Finally all of the nurses seemed occupied, so she slipped into Blue's room.

He was asleep. Dark circles rimmed his eyes and his face was pale, but he looked peaceful. She hoped his dreams were pleasant ones because the reality of his waking hours had to be worse than any nightmare. If only she could take away some of his pain.

There was a rustling of sheets and then a moan that came from somewhere deep inside Blue's chest. When he opened his eyes, Sara saw his confusion quickly replaced by anger.

He tried to sit up and winced. "Damn it. I told you to leave."

She was taken aback. "I'm sorry, Blue, but I needed to see you, to talk to you."

"Sara please, I need for you to leave me alone." His voice was getting louder and more insistent with each word.

A couple of the nurses came into the room to see what was causing the commotion. "Mam, you have to go. You're upsetting the patient."

Sara didn't want to leave, but she didn't know what else to do. He didn't want her there. She held back her tears long enough to say, "All right, I'll go, but if you need me, Blue, call me and I'll come."

He turned away from her and sunk back into the bed. Their exchange had obviously worn him out. One of the nurses pushed her out of the room and escorted her all the way to the elevator where she watched until the doors closed.

Sara crumpled into a heap on the floor.

She didn't know how long she stayed like that before she heard a familiar voice. It was Molly, and she felt her arms surround her. "Baby, listen to me. I'm going to take you home."

* * *

Hector, the man who had been his best friend, his mate, his brother, and his conscience was gone. Charlie knew better than anyone how hard Hector had worked to save his life. They had been successful in their mission to rescue a kidnapped journalist, but it all went south when Charlie got shot. For hours in that Lebanese apartment, Hector wouldn't give up on him.

When a truck loaded with marines pulled up behind the apartment building, they thought that'd been saved, but all of their lives changed in the instant when Hector had been shot and killed in the back of that truck. Damn it, why hadn't the team just left him behind after he got shot? But Charlie knew why. Hector refused to go.

Sara. He hadn't meant to hurt her when she came to see him earlier, but he just couldn't stand having her around right now. His feelings were too raw. Having her near just reminded him of what he'd lost. First their baby, now Hector. He didn't have enough left to deal with her pain as well as his own.

There was a knock on his door.

"Charlie?"

It was Annie, Hector's girlfriend. "I got your message. Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Instead of answering, he said, "Annie, I need to ask you a big favor. I made a promise to Hector, and I need for you to help me keep it."

"I'll do what I can," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

Molly drove Sara home to her little two bedroom house located just off the base. She almost insisted on coming in, but Sara told her how much she needed to be alone. Molly reluctantly agreed, but told her she would come back if Sara needed her.

Lost, she just felt so lost. The world had collapsed around her in Korea when Chi Fung and Blue's baby had been taken from her, but at the time, Blue had been her strength. Why wouldn't he lean on her now? Could it be that he'd been alone for so long that he didn't know how to accept help?

The lock finally came open after several tries. Sara stumbled blindly inside and dropped her keys on the floor. She trudged to the couch and tumbled onto the cushions.

The couch was the only piece of furniture she had in a living room that looked more like a tool shed. She loved this little house that Molly had found for her, but it was in need of some major repair work. Blue had been helping her with some of the electrical circuits and Bob Brown was great with carpentry.

Sara smiled at the memory of Hector trying to help with the plumbing and almost flooding the whole house. Words came out of his mouth that day that she'd never even heard Blue say. Towels, sponges, and old rags flew everywhere as she and Hector tried to sop up the mess.

Blue's arrival just turned the whole thing into a game. All three of them ended up throwing wet rags like snowballs and flipping wet towels at each other that released sprays of water into the air.

Making the down payment on this little house had been so exciting at the time, but now it wasn't much more than a faded memory.

Hours passed and she didn't move. She didn't know what to do, who to call, or where to go. She was paralyzed.

There was a knock on Sara's door. She had no idea what time it was or even what day it was. The knock came again. Should she answer it? Could she even move? But before she had a chance to try, the door opened and in walked Bob Brown.

"Mack and I both tried, but neither of us lasted very long," Bob said. "Maybe we should've tried harder."

"What are you talking about, Bob?" Sara asked, but he went right on as though he hadn't heard her.

"I lasted longer than Mack, though. When Charlie said he didn't want us to stay, Mack just turned around and walked out, just like that. I could see that he needed help, but… that apartment… I just couldn't stay, so I wasn't far behind Mack."

Finally Bob noticed that Sara hadn't moved since he'd come barging in. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I really don't know. Blue had me thrown out of the hospital." Bob's words finally sunk in and clarity returned. "Are you saying that Blue is in his apartment, alone?"

"Kim and I thought you knew. Annie helped him leave the hospital so he could speak with Hector's parents."

"He isn't strong enough to be out of the hospital, is he? Surely the doctor didn't release him."

Bob just shook his head. "Annie was a medic," but then Bob added, "Hector's parents are taking him home to be buried in Wisconsin. They're not staying for the memorial service tomorrow. Charlie didn't have much time."

Sara was stunned… and angry. She understood that Blue wanted to talk to Hector's parents, but Annie had put his life at risk to do it. "Would you take me over to Blue's apartment?"

Sara saw the look of dread on Bob's face.

"Don't worry," she said. "You won't have to stay."

Sara was fuming by the time they got to Blue's apartment. She had Bob pick the lock to let her in. If things were as bad as he said, she didn't want Blue to have to get up to answer the door.

"What the hell?" Blue said. "You can't just come in here."

"Thanks, Bob," Sara said. "I'll take it from here."

Bob shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sorry, man," as he backed out and quietly closed the door.

Sara softened when she saw how vulnerable Blue looked, but not enough to let him get away with that stunt he'd pulled. She threw the bag she'd brought with her on the tall counter which separated the kitchen from the living room.

"What did you think you were doing leaving the hospital?"

"I had to be here for Hector's parents. We made a promise to each other that I had to keep." He struggled to get up and get a shirt, but after several tries, he gave up and fell back down on the couch. "I told them as much as I could about Hector's death."

It hurt Sara to know that he hadn't come to her for help, but she put that aside. That wasn't why she was here. "You can't even get off the couch, can you?" she demanded.

"I make it to the can when I need to. You're not my mama, Sara. Go home."

"I'm not in your command either, so I don't have to follow your orders. I'm staying here and helping you until you're well enough to throw me out."

He grunted and laid his head back down. She took that as acceptance.

"How much have you had to eat?" He didn't answer, so she went to the kitchen and found that there was no food on the shelves. When she opened the refrigerator, she was appalled at what she saw.

"Were you planning to live on beer?" she asked. When he didn't answer, she stormed around to his side of the couch, but her mood mellowed when she saw that he'd fallen asleep. How badly he must have wanted to be here to take such a chance with his health. He must have known she wouldn't help him leave the hospital, so he'd gone to Annie, the former medic and Hector's girlfriend.

For the first time since Bob let her in the apartment, she took a good look at Blue. His eyes had sunken deeply into his head. He looked so tired, and she could tell he'd lost weight he couldn't afford to lose. From just below his arms all the way down to the top of his briefs were bandages that encircled his entire body. His arm was held immobile by a severe looking splint and sling.

She covered him up with a blanket and kissed him softly on the cheek before going in search of his keys. The first order of business was to get food in this apartment. Then she'd fix him a good dinner and get him into bed. She was determined to help him no matter what he said. First stop, the PX. With keys in hand, she quietly left the apartment.

When she returned, Blue still hadn't moved from the spot where she'd left him. The PX had some fresh vegetables, so she washed them and did some chopping. She threw the cuttings and some broth into a pot to make soup and then warmed a loaf of French bread.

"What's that smell?" The gravelly voice came from the other side of the couch.

"If you won't take care of yourself, someone has to. I got some groceries and made you something to eat." She brought him the warm soup and bread and put it on a tray in front of him. "When was the last time you changed your bandages?"

"Sara," he started to say more, but she stopped him.

"Are you strong enough to throw me out yet?" Without giving him time to answer, she added, "Because if you're not, I'm not leaving. I'll stay out of your way, but I'm not leaving until I'm sure you're all right on your own."

She went back in the kitchen to put the leftovers away and cleaned up. "I'll help you change your bandages and get into bed after you've eaten."

He devoured the soup and bread, but it took a toll on him. He needed help, which confirmed, for her at least, that coming here had been the right thing to do.

"The Unit chaplain is performing a memorial service for Hector tomorrow," Blue said.

"I heard. I'm sure you'll go no matter what I say, so I'll help you get ready and go with you. No arguments."

He was too tired to argue, so he soaked up the last few drops of the soup with the rest of the bread and leaned back on the couch. She came around and started loosening his bandages. "Blue, you're going to have to help me because I don't know what to do."

They struggled with the bandages and by the time they finished, he was exhausted. Sara went into his bedroom and paused. His normally crisp white sheets were stained red just like his bandages had been. The sight of blood on his sheets would stay with her just like the sweet memories the two of them had made together in this room.

She put on clean sheets she found in the closet and helped him into bed. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. She kissed him on the forehead and brought a chair from the kitchen table into the bedroom. He had been alone and helpless. She wasn't about to let that happen again.


	4. Chapter 4

Kim heard the door close and knew that Bob had returned.

"Did it work?" she said when he walked into the kitchen.

He pulled his wife to him and hugged her. Holding her gave him comfort that he desperately needed right now, so he enjoyed the feel of her next to him for just a moment longer before he answered.

"I don't know how you talked me into it, but yea, I think it worked. She even had me pick the lock." He kissed her on top of the head, pulled away slightly, and looked down at his pretty wife. "When I left, I could hear her through the door giving Charlie hell for leaving the hospital. How did you know she would respond that way?"

Kim laid her head back against her husband's chest. "Because it's what I would've done given the same circumstances. She loves him. She'll take good care of him."

"What if she can't handle all of this?"

Kim separated herself from her husband and went back to washing the dishes. She handed Bob a towel so that he could dry. "If she can't, then it's better to find that out now, but I think she'll weather the storm."

Kim handed him a dripping dish and he started to rub it with the towel. Over the years, he'd become an expert at dish drying. "I don't know how Mack's gonna feel when he finds out that Charlie ordered him out of his apartment and he went."

Kim smiled slightly and handed her husband another dish. "He'll be comforted when he hears that you couldn't stay in Charlie's apartment because you were afraid of a ghost." Tears gathered in her eyes and she put her hands on the edge of the sink. "Oh Bob, How are we going to get through this?"

He put down the towel and pulled his wife back into his arms. He just held her there because he wasn't sure he had an answer. Death touched almost every soldier in one way or another. Each man and woman had to learn how to deal with it in his or her own way.

"I don't know, honey, but I'm thankful we have each other to lean on."

Sara didn't think she'd ever be able to sleep in that uncomfortable kitchen chair, but when she was awakened by the sound of Blue turning over in bed, she realized she had dozed off. When she looked up, she found that he was staring at her.

"Are you all right?" she said and went to the bed to check on him. It was so dark she could barely see his eyes.

Instead of answering her question, he started reminiscing.

"I met Hector in basic training. I was fresh out of the LA street scene, and he was coming straight from what I thought must have been the sweet life in Wisconsin. I was a little shit, so I gave him crap almost daily, played tricks on him like picking the lock on his foot locker and messing with his stuff. Almost got him thrown out once when they found weed under his cot."

When Blue smiled, Sara sensed he had gone inside himself, so she just sat on the bed and listened.

"It was the last of the weed I'd brought with me too. Hector knew all along it was me, but instead of beating the shit out of me, he became real competitive. I was faster, but he was stronger, so neither one of us ever really got an edge. We finished basic at the top of the ranks, but I never knew who ended up first."

With a great deal of effort, he pushed himself up higher in the bed. He winced and groaned a little before continuing.

"We ended up on opposite sides of the world, and I didn't think about him again until after my first tour was up. I was always looking for ways to earn a few bucks, some of them more stupid than others, but when I heard that soldiers who were medics earned extra money, I signed up for level one, the beginning course. No family, nowhere to go. What else was I gonna do between tours?

On the first day of training, I walked into the classroom and wouldn't you know there was Hector sitting front row center. I almost walked out, but when he turned around and saw me, he said, 'Afraid I'm better than you at this?' I strutted over and sat down right next to him. 'In your dreams, Dude,' I said. He just smiled, but it was the first time in my life I ever sat in the front row of a classroom.

If I'd known how tough even the introductory course of medic training was or how many months I'd end up spending in a classroom, I wouldn't have started, but I couldn't give up with Hector there always giving me grief. We both completed the first level, but his scores were way higher than mine. I was pissed, so I gave him a hard time about his prissy bed side manner, but even then I knew how good he was. He probably could've been a doctor if he'd wanted to be.

Hector brought out my competitive nature too, so I was stoked to get another chance at him when I found out we were both taking basic ordinance training. I won that one goin' away. A street gang can get a lot of use out of a guy who knows about electric circuits and explosives, and I was very useful."

He stopped for a minute, and Sara thought he'd fallen asleep, but it wasn't long before he started talking again.

"Colonel Ryan caught up with Hector and me on the last day of ordinance training. He asked if we were up for another challenge. When I looked at Hector, all I could see was another chance to beat his ass, but I could tell that for him, it was much more.

We both accepted.

We were competing for selection to 'The Unit' along with lots of other soldiers, all with something that made each one of them special. Hector fit right in with those guys, but I had to work damn hard because of my size and the fact that I was still trying to live down my roots as punk from a street gang.

Our final was a survival test in the woods. We were told to find our way out as fast as we could, using only the resources we had.

Near the end, I slipped and fell down a hill. I messed up my ankle pretty bad. Hector found me lying there. That taunting smile of his spread annoyingly across his face, and I knew I was screwed, but instead of leaving me, he stopped, wrapped my ankle, and dragged my sorry ass to the finish.

After all this time competing against each other, we'd ended up working together to finish. I wouldn't have made it without him. We assumed neither of us had gotten in, until Jonas asked Hector and me, 'If I can only pick one of you losers, which one should it be?'

Hector said, 'Take the little guy. He probably would have finished first in the survival test if he hadn't hurt his ankle. I'll get in next time.'

Nobody gave up a spot in 'The Unit' once they'd earned it, and we both knew there wouldn't be a next time for either one of us. I didn't know what to say. In the gang, nobody ever helped anybody else without expecting the favor to be returned. Other than my mother, nobody had ever put my needs above his own, so I told Jonas that Hector was the better candidate."

Blue smirked. "I think I also said something about guys from Wisconsin getting by because of the charity of others."

Sara started to cry, but she tried to hide it as much as she could. She didn't want Blue to use it as an excuse not to finish the story.

"After a few days, Jonas called us to 'The Cave' and told us that we'd both passed selection. He said, 'Besides having superior skills, none of the other candidates displayed such an unselfish attitude. When you work with a team, your mates have to be as important to you and the mission as your own capabilities are.' I would never have been that unselfish if Hector hadn't been, so I probably wouldn't have gotten in.

I asked him later why he helped me that day. He said, 'You're a son of a bitch, so trying to beat you pushed me to work harder than I ever would have on my own. How could I leave my best motivator behind?'

After that, we decided to share an apartment. Since selection, I tried to live up to the expectations that were set for us by Jonas. Hector never had any trouble with that, so whenever I doubted a decision, I always asked myself, what would Hector do? You know, he was kinda like my conscience. He made me a better person."

Sara wondered how many people knew the story of how he and Hector had met and become friends.

"Sara, you know I care about you, but Hector was the one who taught me that it was okay to care about people. I wasn't much of a man until I met him, and I don't know what kind of man I'll be without him around."

"Hector didn't make you the man you are," Sara said weakly as she touched Blue's chest. "He just helped you find him in here."

For the first time since he'd been shot, he touched her. He put his hand over the one she had placed on his chest and said, "Everything that was so clear a couple of weeks ago is all messed up in my head now."

He squeezed the hand she'd laid on his chest and then brought it to his lips. "I know you want to stay until I'm stronger, and I guess I could use the help, but I don't have anything to give back to you, Sara, not anymore. We can't be together the way we were, not now and maybe not ever."

"I felt that way once too, remember?" Sara asked. "You didn't give up on me then, so I'm not giving up on you now, Blue."

"You've got to stop calling me that, Sara. There's nothing special about me. I'm just plain old Charles Grey." He let go of her hand and turned away leaving her with nothing to do but stand there and stare at the only man she had ever loved.

Sara was losing Blue and she didn't know what to say or do to keep him from slipping away. She was so tired and couldn't think straight anymore. It wouldn't be long before her emotions got the better of her.

"Go back to sleep," she said in a shaky voice. "You've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

She left the bedroom and closed the door behind her allowing him the privacy that he seemed to want. She fell onto the couch and buried her head into a pillow so Blue wouldn't hear the sobs that wracked her body and broke her heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Telling Sara the story of how he and Hector had met exhausted him, but Charlie still couldn't sleep. When he was finally ready to get out of bed, it was nearly ten o'clock. He heard her moving around in the kitchen presumably making breakfast.

Sara would throw a fit if she caught him flushing half of his pain meds down the toilet. They would all go swirling as soon as he could stand it. Even though they took the edge off the sharp pains, they made his mind fuzzy and unfocused. He knew far too well from his days in the gang how easy it would be to get used to being fuzzy headed all the time.

His arms and legs ached and shook with exertion, but he had to hold it together. Just sitting up was a struggle. How would he ever make it through the entire memorial ceremony? Maybe just for today, he would take that full dose of pain medication. He owed it to Hector to at least look like he was strong.

Sara knocked on the door and brought him some oatmeal and toast. Neither one of them talked about what had been said during the night.

When she started to help him out of bed, he said, "I've got this."

"You need to get cleaned up. No offense, Charlie, but you stink. You can't get those bandages wet, so you need a sponge bath, and you can't do that yourself."

Realizing she was right, he nodded, so she eased him into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror at the reflection of her beautiful face, concern deeply etched in her eyes. What had he ever done to deserve the love of such a woman? Why couldn't he just take what she offered? But he knew the answer. It would be a lie, and he just couldn't lie to Sara. Would he ever feel the same way about anything again?

Sara began tenderly stroking the exposed skin around his bandages. The warm, soapy water trickled down his arms and legs. Every drop felt like tiny fingers messaging his aching body. The hot water from the faucet began filling the room with an almost surreal fog. Sara was so gentle; her hands shaking with the effort of trying not to hurt him.

Her touch was like heaven, and heaven had been hard to come by for him lately. It became almost impossible to focus, so he closed his eyes, but her fragrance filled the steamy room and the heat she radiated penetrated his worn senses. If she didn't finish soon, his body's reaction would become visible.

Finally he grabbed her hand. "Sara, you've done enough. Get my dress uniform, and I'll finish getting ready on my own." He couldn't use any more energy fighting the betrayal of his own body when he was going to need everything he had to get through the memorial service. She came back with the uniform in hand. He was relieved when she didn't argue and left him to put it on by himself.

He thought he could at least come to her fully dressed, but like a baby, he needed help with buttoning his buttons, tying his tie, and putting on his jacket. He was just glad he didn't need a diaper or the picture would've been complete. _Damn it! Why did he have to be so helpless?_

Sara and Blue were the first ones to arrive at the chapel. Kim Brown had done a wonderful job helping the chaplain decorate. White lilies and candles graced the altar and the sun shown in through the stained glass creating a kind of other-worldly atmosphere. Sara situated Blue in the front row where the surviving members of Alpha Team would be sitting. She found her way to an empty pew further back where she could keep an eye on him. He would no doubt get through the ceremony since he wasn't about to let himself fail this last mission with Hector. She worried about what kind of toll such resilience might take on his body and his soul.

Even before others started filing in, Sara's emotions began getting the better of her. She held back the noisy sobs, but she couldn't stop the silent flow of tears down her cheeks.

Among those entering the chapel were Bob and Kim Brown followed closely by Molly and Jonas Blane. Annie came with Tiffy and Mack Gehardt. The husbands and wives separated as the husbands made their way to the front and the wives stayed together further back. Molly handed Sara a tissue and gave her firm hug before joining the rest of the wives and Annie seated right in front of her.

Blue was joined by Jonas, Mack, and Bob who each took their places with him in the front pew. None of them said a word, but each of them acknowledged the others with a nod and nothing more. It was almost as if they were afraid to express any emotion at all for fear that they wouldn't be able to keep the rest of them locked inside.

Hector was represented at the front of the chapel by his rifle which was standing inside his spit-shined boots with his helmet perched on top. Hanging around the helmet were Hector's dog tags, so shiny that if they'd been outside, the reflection would have been blinding.

The chaplain started the ceremony with a prayer, but Sara found herself tuning out most of what came after that. Memories of Hector kept flooding her mind and distracted her from the ceremony until Colonel Ryan took the podium and started calling roll. Sara had read about military services and knew about the roll call that was taken of the surviving members of a team, but she was unprepared for the impact when the colonel called Hector's name. The silence that filled the chapel was devastating.

When his name was called a second time, and for a second time there was no response, the reality of Hector's death hit home for everyone. Sobs could be heard throughout the chapel. Sara didn't see where they were coming from because her eyes were glued to Blue. How tough was it for him to hear that? How hard was it for him to hold on? If only she could take away even a little of his pain, but she knew he would never let her try.

"… and you should have seen all of us running when we saw the pin dangling from Hector's finger. He had dropped the grenade, and it started rolling right for us," Jonas said as laughter blossomed from the pews. "We managed to get behind some crates before it went off, but our ears were ringing for two days afterward. On Hector's next birthday, Charlie had a cake shaped like a grenade baked for him. Unbeknownst to any of us, Charlie had connected one of the candles to some firecrackers which went off as soon as the other candles were extinguished. Most of the cake and icing ended up on Hector's face." Jonas chucked, but then his face sobered as if he suddenly remembered why they were all there. He paused for a moment, seeming to gather himself before saying, "Rest in peace, young son." He then quietly returned to his seat.

Charlie remembered all of that as though it had happened yesterday. Several other people had come forward with stories and humorous anecdotes about Hector. Jonas was the last one. Charlie could have told a lot more stories, some funny and some poignant, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his seat. He wanted to keep his grief to himself.

The chaplain finished the service with one final prayer, and then it was over. Charlie could hear the rustling as people slowly rose and prepared to leave. Jonas, Mack, and Bob each gave him a quick pat on the back before heading off to find their wives.

Charlie waited until everyone had left the chapel. Sara was kind enough to give him the space he needed to say his final good-byes. He limped to the front of the chapel and lifted Hector's dog tags.

"So Hector, at the end of the line, is this all that's left? Did you know that when you fought so hard to save my life?"

No answer, not that he expected one.

"I'll miss ya, buddy. You brought trust into a life that had been filled with doubt." He clutched the dog tags, squeezed them tightly, and raised his fist into the air. "Vaya con Dios, brother," he said and then slipped the dog tags into his pocket.

When he finally made it outside, he felt himself swaying and grabbed the railing on the edge of the chapel steps. Sara put her arm around him and helped him into the car. The drive back to his apartment was a silent one, each of them consumed with their own thoughts.

They struggled to get upstairs and barely made it to his bedroom before Charlie threw off his jacket and fell into bed. Sara managed to get his shirt and pants off as he was falling asleep. The last thing she did was cover him up. Food and clean bandages could wait until he woke up.

Sara thought about how handsome Blue had looked during the ceremony. It was true what they said about men in uniform, well at least this man. She knew how important it had been for him to attend the service, and she was happy to be able to help him, but now her strength was gone. She'd held off as long as she could, but as soon as Blue fell asleep, she broke down and started to cry. She left his bedroom and went to the living room so she wouldn't wake him. They had all lost a good man in Hector Williams.


	6. Chapter 6

"One more, Sargent Grey," encouraged Tariq. The husky African-American was the best physical therapist on the base. He knew his stuff and didn't take any crap. It didn't hurt that he was built like a tank, and when he spoke, he had a voice that boomed like a cannon. With his help, it was just a matter of time before Charlie was back to active duty status. Each day he'd been able to do more and more before Tariq called it quits.

"You're making me look good, Sargent," said the brawny physical therapist. This had been the toughest rehab Charlie had ever done. Not only was this the worst injury he'd suffered since joining the army, it was also the first time that Hector hadn't been there to spur him on.

"Come on, man. I can do five more," Charlie pleaded. He'd worked with Tariq before. His familiar face was a welcome sight each day, especially now.

"No way, you're already at the upper limit. Don't want to push too hard or you'll reinjure yourself," Tariq said as he supported him into a standing position. "Be patient. You're ahead of schedule as it is."

Patient, he'd already been more than patient, so he didn't tell Tariq that he had been doing more and more strength work on his own. The longer he sat around that apartment, the more he felt like an invalid that was never going to get back to his real life. He had to push on. It was what Hector would have wanted him to do, especially since he had worked so hard to save his life.

Tariq watched as Charlie pulled a sweatshirt over his head and grimaced. "When was the last time you took pain meds?"

"I'm done with that shit, Tariq. I've got history, you know. I don't want to end up addicted."

Pain meds had caused more than one argument with Sara, but Charlie had seen what addiction could do. Putting his life back together was hard enough. He had to admit, though, that Sara had been a big help. She massaged his sore muscles, kept him well fed, and made sure he got enough sleep. He wished he could be the man for her, but since Beirut, he didn't feel like much of a man at all.

Tariq interrupted his thoughts. "I know better than to try and talk you into something you don't want to do, but consider taking something for pain once a day, maybe right after rehab. Your body would recover faster and you might make better progress."

"You can't con a con, Tariq. You already told me that I was at my upper limit of physical tolerance and ahead of schedule. Pain meds or no pain meds, you ain't gonna let me do any more until you think I'm ready."

"Damn, you caught me," he said even though he didn't look a bit sorry.

"Don't forget, I am a medic."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've used that line every time you've come in for therapy, which is far too much by the way."

"I'm just makin' sure you get enough business, Tariq."

"Stick with referrals and quit getting shot."

"I'll do my best. I'm gonna head."

"Be careful, man, and take some pain meds."

Charlie just waved and walked away.

Charlie had been spending his mornings at rehab and his afternoons at the operations center. Since he had been put on limited duty status, he'd been working on a new bullet that would be useful in an upcoming mission. The team would be spotting a target in a crowd. His bullet would allow the shooter to take out the target without going through and through putting innocent bystanders at risk.

Charlie ignored the left over aches and pains from rehab. He intended to use his work on the new bullet to convince Jonas and the colonel to send him on the mission with the team. It was time for him to get back in the game.

On his way in, Colonel Ryan stopped him. "How's that project of yours going?" he asked as they walked toward the colonel's office.

"Almost complete. Just needs to be test fired. If it does the job, I'd like to be assigned to the team for this mission."

The colonel shook his head, "Sometimes you amaze me, son." He paused for a moment and then said, "All right. If you get clearance from the docs, I'll put you on the mission." They walked a little further before the colonel asked, "So what did you think of Ms. Franklin's job offer?"

"Colonel?"

"She didn't tell you?" Looking contrite, he scratched his head. "I guess I let the cat out of the bag."

Charlie stopped walking and turned to face the colonel. "What job offer, Colonel?"

"I probably shouldn't be telling you, seeing as she didn't tell you herself." When Charlie didn't show any signs of letting him off the hook, he sighed and explained what he knew.

"The ex-Mrs. Ryan was thrilled with the work Sara did a couple of months ago when her London office brought that group of Korean diplomats here to Fort Griffith. She got calls for days after from officials in the Korean government and her people in Washington praising Sara's work. One of Charlotte's DC contacts asked her to offer Sara a job."

Charlie was trying to digest what the colonel had told him when a soldier from the command center caught them and whispered something in his ear.

"I'm sorry, son. I really thought you knew," the colonel said as the pressing business of the day took him back to the TOC.

Was Charlie the last one to know about this job offer? He wasn't sure what he thought of the idea of Sara moving away. He suddenly needed a drink, so he decided to head to one of his old haunts, The Capri Isle Lounge.

When Charlie walked into the Capri Isle Lounge, he saw that Annie was tending bar. He had barely gotten seated on one of the stools when she brought him a Heineken.

"You're looking a little down, Charlie. What can I do to help?" Annie asked.

He just shook his head.

"If you want my advice as a veteran bartender who has heard a lot of stories, the first step is to figure out what you can change and what you can't. After that things should start falling into place."

He was stunned. Like a voice from beyond, it sounded just like something Hector might have said. He looked up into her eyes and found that they held a wealth of understanding. His hand seemed drawn to hers on the bar. "I never thanked you for helping me leave the hospital the way that you did," he said. When he pulled her toward him, to his surprise, she didn't object. A moment's pause was all he needed before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Several expressions crossed her face, but anger wasn't among them. Maybe he hadn't lost his touch with women after all, even though it had been a long time since he'd tried using it.

She winked and said, "You're welcome." Some other customers came in and sat down at the other end of the bar. "Why don't you hang out here for a while?" she said as she brought him another beer.

He leaned forward and managed to catch a glimpse of the little sway in her hips as she got back to work. At that moment, a terrorist with a tricked out bomb couldn't have gotten his attention. He hadn't felt this good since before Beirut.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where's my 'go bag?'" Charlie asked as he searched his apartment.

Charlie's phone rang and suddenly he was buzzing around like a bee.

"Why do you need it?"

Charlie sighed and looked behind the couch, "I know what you're gonna say, but I've been cleared for duty. I'm going out."

"On a mission?"

Charlie went to his bedroom and started throwing clothes out of his closet, "My 'go bag?'"

Energy that she hadn't seen for weeks seemed to be escaping from every pore. He hadn't looked this happy since before Hector's death.

"Found it," he said. After a quick look inside, he grabbed both of Sara's arms and kissed her on the cheek. "While I'm gone, you can pack for DC."

"DC?" She was still trying to absorb the fact that he was going out on a mission.

He opened the door to leave. "Yea, your new job. We'll talk about it when I get back," he said and closed the door behind him.

He thought she'd taken the job. How had he found out about it?

She'd been hoping that once Blue got back on his feet, he'd want her to live with him, but apparently she'd only been fooling herself. Now it seemed that instead of living in the same house, they might not even be living in the same city.

* * *

Jonas and Bob were already in "The Cave" when Charlie arrived. Handshakes and slaps on the back were followed by Colonel Ryan entering the room and turning on the red light which indicated that a briefing was in progress.

"Gentlemen," the colonel said, "We have a group of soldiers affiliated with a Los Angeles street gang stealing weapons and selling them on the black market. This would normally be a concern for some other branch of the military, but this group has added binary explosives to their inventory. As you know, binaries are easy to transport, and when the two compounds are mixed and heated, they deliver quite a punch. We don't know how much they have or where it's stored. That's where Grey comes in. He's going to infiltrate that gang of soldiers using his former membership in said group."

The colonel stood up and walked to the board where he pointed to a picture. "I know we're pulling you back in a bit early, so I hope you're ready, son, because you're the only one that can do this job. I believe you know Rock Diaz."

Charlie nodded. He hadn't thought about Rock in years. His past was coming back to haunt him.

The colonel continued, "Diaz is running these guys. Your mission is to find the explosives and shut down their contact. Grey will be Staff Sergeant Charles Grey. Jonas, you'll go in as his DI putting the group through physical training updates, and Bob will be on over-watch. Any questions?"

Charlie had plenty, but he kept his mouth shut. If he asked too many questions it might make the colonel think that he was apprehensive. He couldn't afford that. More than anything, he wanted to get back to work. Any excuse, even his former gang was okay with him.

"Gentlemen, wheels up in two hours. Report to Colonel Traverse at Fort Fuller. Good luck."

* * *

"Diaz is tough, but we were tight. He won't be a problem," Charlie said confidently when they were on the plane to Fort Fuller in California. What he didn't tell Bob and Jonas was that Rock had seen him through the dark days after his mother's death.

Normally gang bangers like Diaz wouldn't take a scrawny kid under his wing, but Rock knew Charlie from the neighborhood, knew he was loyal and learned quickly. Before long, he became a valued member of the gang. At one time, Charlie had considered Rock a brother until he sensed that his interest in him was more about what he could do for him rather than who he was. Hector had shown him what it was to be a true brother.

"You ready for this?" Jonas asked, but Charlie knew he didn't just mean physically. He was going to have to prove himself all over again not only to his former gang but also to Bob and Jonas. This mission would be a test of whether or not he could handle being a part of this team.

"They'll probably be a line," Charlie said. "It's a kind of initiation that everyone has to pass to join the gang, a physical initiation."

Bob asked. "Is your scar tissue healed enough to take a punch… or worse?"

"It'll hurt like a son of a bitch, but that's all. I'll handle it. The rest I'll take as it comes." He smiled and slipped into the language of the streets, "Ya know what I'm sayin'?" He grabbed Bob's hand and gave it the grip of his former gang. Bob took it so awkwardly that Charlie said, "You've never been on the streets, have you Bob?"

Bob smirked and shook his head.

"Whenever you need to make contact," Jonas said, "just screw up in some obvious way, and I'll do the rest. As your DI, I can find ways to make your life hell." Then he smiled and added, "How do you like the name Susie?"

"Sergeant Susie." A grin spread across Charlie's face. "Has a nice ring."

* * *

"Dammit," Mack swore at the ancient lawn mower that was leaning on its side in his garage. "If I ever get the money, I'm tossin' this thing," Mack continued to grumble to himself as he pitched the rag he'd been using to the ground. Money was tight for both Mack and Tiffy since they had separated.

When Sara drove up, Mack said, "Well, look who's here, if it ain't the little nursemaid. How's Charlie?"

"Doing too much," she said. "Is Tiffy here?" She'd been hoping to talk with one of the Unit wives about Blue. She desperately needed some advice.

"I guess you didn't know that Tiffy's in the hospital." Then he added, "Remember, I'm not allowed in my own house when Tiffy's here, Colonel Ryan's orders. Too many domestic disturbance calls."

Sara ignored his sarcasm. "Is she all right?"

He just shook his head. "Gotta get her out of that hell hole."

Sara looked at him questioningly. "She and Annie got in a wreck outside the Capri Isle, some customers givin' her a hard time." He grabbed a wrench and continued working on the lawn mower, quickly changing the subject. "Why do you think Charlie's doing too much? Don't you think he knows what he can and can't handle?"

Mack's voice was started to get louder, so Sara said, "I'll just go over to Molly's or Kim's."

"They're at the hospital visiting Tiffy. You didn't answer my question. What makes you a better judge than Charlie of how much he can take?" Mack had a temper, and it was starting to ignite.

"I just meant that he's pushing himself pretty hard." She was starting to get nervous.

"You don't think we _have_ to push ourselves?" When she didn't answer, he said, "You're not in the military and you've only been with Charlie a few months. You really have no idea what it takes to do what we do." Mack threw the wrench and it hit the side of a trash can, the echo deafening in the small space.

Sara had never felt Mack's full intensity before, but as his eyes bore into hers, she suddenly understood what made him such a good soldier.

"Okay, maybe I don't exactly know what it takes, but I care about Blue, and I don't want to see him end up like Hector."

It was the wrong thing to say. In almost a blur, Mack was right next to her forcefully grabbing her arm. He yanked hard until their faces were mere inches apart.

"What do you mean by that, missy?"

It was time to leave. Mack's anger was more than she was prepared to handle.

"Let go, Mack. You're hurting me."

Some of his anger dissipated when he saw the red impressions the tight squeeze of his fingers was leaving in Sara's arm.

"You're naïve, Sara. You don't get what we have to do."

She was feeling raw. It was the first time that she'd sensed disapproval from any of Blue's team. She wanted to be the right woman for him. She wanted to understand.

"Molly told me once that you all have to make choices that no one should ever have to make. Is that what happened the day Hector was killed?"

"Leave it alone, Sara. You know we can't share mission details."

Sara could tell she was on the right track. Mack was filled with anger, and Blue had been keeping her at arms' length.

"What impossible choice did you all have to make that day?"_ What would be the toughest choice they would ever have to make?_

But then she knew.

"You would have left Blue there, but it was Hector who wouldn't leave. You blame yourself for not making him go."

Mack sighed, surprised by her intuition. "None of us wanted to leave Charlie, but our mission was complete. Extraction was all that was left, but Charlie couldn't make it. Eventually we wouldn't have had any choice."

The walls began closing in and the room started to spin. Sara put her head in her hands. "Blue told you to leave too, didn't he, but he couldn't convince Hector."

If Mack hadn't had a good hold on her, she would've collapsed on the spot. He eased her down on a workbench at the side of the garage.

"Hector jeopardized your mission. He made the same choice I would have made, but for a soldier it was the wrong one, and he paid for it with his life."

Mack nodded and released her arm. "Weren't you the one who just a few months ago begged 'Blue' to leave you in Korea to die?"

She looked up at him incredulous that he would compare the two events. "That was different. I was depressed and thought I'd lost everything. How do you make life or death a conscious, rational choice? How do you live with yourself when you don't get it right?"

"It's part of what we do. We're all trained for it. Charlie deals with it just like the rest of us. The question is can you live with a man who regularly has to face decisions like these and accept the consequences?"

Could she? In her mind, Hector made the only possible choice, but Mack and Blue thought he made the wrong one. Bob and Jonas probably did too. Sara remembered Blue's story about selection to the Unit and how even then, Hector's devotion was unshakeable.

Just then Mack's phone rang. "Yes, sir," he said. "I'll be right in."

He looked at Sara.

"Just go, Mack. I'll lock up."

After that, Mack left in a hurry. Sara sat there in the garage thinking about what Mack had said. He was right. She didn't understand. How could anybody ever be trained to leave someone they loved behind to die?


	8. Chapter 8

"Good work, men," Jonas said as they boarded the plane back to Fort Griffith. "How you holding up, Grey?" he asked.

It hadn't been easy reconnecting with Rock Diaz, but Charlie had managed to trick his former gang into accepting him, but they made him pay for it. The bruises around his midsection were visible proof. It had been good to be back out on a mission, though, and he thought that he'd earned back at least some trust from Jonas and Bob.

"Left the old life behind for good," Charlie said.

Most of the gang was dead or in custody. Rock tried to escape, and Charlie had to take him down himself. It was the first time that he ever beat him in a fight, but at least he didn't have to kill him.

Once he was knew he was beaten, Rock had said, "The army may have taught you to fight, but they also taught you how to lie."

That wasn't entirely true. The gang had taught him to fight and lie. The army taught him how to use his skills for a greater purpose. There was some comfort in that knowledge.

"Well, son, that's the way of things," Jonas said. "Time to move on."

Jonas wasn't just talking about the gang.

On the plane back to Fort Griffith, Charlie was deep in thought. Diaz talked about the gang being family. It made Charlie think about the only real family he ever had, his mother.

"Help people that can't help themselves," she used to say, and she lived by that, always bringing home strays, both animal and human. He suspected that his father was one of those strays that either charmed or forced his way into her bed. She wouldn't tell him anything about him, so as he got older, he stopped asking.

His mother was constantly making deals with the principal of his school to keep him there even though he did his best to get kicked out. She never saw a dime for all of the times she cleaned up after ball games and dances or for the bake sales and yard sales she organized. When it finally occurred to him how much she was doing to keep him in school, he gave up trying to get out, right up to the day she died. That day he walked away from school for good.

Her death was etched in his memory. She had been walking across the street taking food to a sick neighbor when a car came by loaded with gangbangers determined to spray the neighborhood with bullets. His mother was one of the casualties.

He'd been inside doing homework when he heard the shots. By the time he got to his mother, she was already dead, and he was alone. That's when Rock Diaz stepped into his life. "Join my gang, get revenge. We'll be your family." The words preyed on his anger and fear.

At first he wasn't much more than a pet to be kicked around by the others in the gang, but he watched and learned. Before long he became a weapons expert having mastered repairs and modifications for every type of weapon they had.

It was also during his time with the gang that he learned he had a way with the ladies. At first, he didn't know what he did or said that attracted them, but his value to the gang rose as more and more girls were drawn in by the boy with the quick wit, curly hair, and charming dimples.

It didn't take long for him to realize that the gang was only using him, but he had no place else to go. The day he and Rock robbed a liquor store in the neighborhood had been the day that his life had taken a turn for the better. Rock was arrested, but Charlie had been too quick for the police officers and got away. The best thing he ever did was duck into that army recruiting station where he was given a choice for the first time since his mother's death.

The wheels of the plane hit the tarmac and jolted him back into the present. It wouldn't be long before the sun started down for the evening when they went inside "The Cave" for debriefing.

When they were done, Colonel Ryan said, "Great job, men. Grey, you handled yourself well. Welcome back to the team."

Bob and Jonas shook his hand, but then left to go home to their wives.

All of the memories that had been dredged up over the past couple of weeks left Charlie feeling edgy. He wasn't looking forward to talking to Sara about her new job, but then his phone rang.

It was Annie. "Hey, Charlie, I hate to ask, but could you give me a ride to work?"

"Be there in a few," he said as he headed for his car. He smiled when he thought about the time he'd spent with Annie lately. She had given him perspective that he thought he'd lost after Hector's death.

Sara had moved out of Blue's apartment, but she was still worried about him. She didn't know if the colonel would put Blue at risk, but the fact that she wasn't sure had made it tough over the last couple of weeks for her to sleep at night.

She hadn't had any luck catching up with any of the Unit wives. Talking to Mack had been unsettling. Since then she had questioned everything about her relationship with Blue. Maybe she should take the job in DC, but she just couldn't give up on Blue, not when there was still hope for them. She really needed to talk to someone.

Annie was the perfect choice. She had been a medic in the military. Maybe she could help Sara understand the life and death choices that Blue and his teammates regularly made.

Besides she'd stayed away from Annie for too long and needed to clear the air. If things had turned out differently, they might have become as close as sisters. Just because she helped Blue leave the hospital to see Hector's parents, she shouldn't have blamed Annie. Blue could be pretty convincing when he wanted something.

The best time to catch her was when she was working at the Capri Isle Lounge. Now that Sara had a plan of action, she couldn't get to her car fast enough.

When Sara arrived, she saw fire trucks and police cars out front. It looked like the entire back side of the bar had been burned out. She worried that Annie might have been injured, so she got out of her car to see if there was anything she could do.

That's when she saw them.

Blue and Annie were embracing each other on the sidewalk in front of the bar. Maybe this was about Hector. Sara knew that both of them were struggling with his death, so she thought that Annie might be consoling him, but then she saw them kiss.

It wasn't just a friendly kiss. Blue hadn't kissed Sara like that in months. The fear and pain of the past few weeks bubbled up inside her.

When he and Annie kissed a second time even more passionately than before, Sara was crushed. She knew that her relationship with Blue was over.

She got back in the car and drove home.

Charlie hadn't gone after Sara when she climbed back into her car. The look on her face was enough to tell him what she had seen.

Dammit, he'd hurt her.

He didn't take time to explain but gave Annie a ride to her apartment and promised to come back later.

When he got to Sara's house, her car was in the driveway. The trunk was open, full of bags and boxes. Clothes were thrown into the back seat. Lights were on inside the house, so he knocked.

The door flew open. "You shouldn't have come," she said. When she left him standing there, he followed her back into the house.

"What I just saw convinced me to take the job in DC. I'm leaving as soon as I finish packing," she said in a matter of fact way that he was certain she wasn't feeling.

Charlie felt like he'd been kicked in the gut when he saw her red, swollen eyes. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Sara, but I never lied to you. I told you that my feelings had changed."

"You're right. You never lied to me, but that doesn't make watching you with another woman hurt any less."

Charlie felt the need to justify his budding relationship. "Annie's former military, a medic. She understands my crazy life."

"And the choices you have to make?" Sara asked.

"Yes," he said but he gave her a questioning look. _Where was she going with this?_

"Like Beirut? Does she understand the choices that were made in Beirut?"

He stopped cold. "You don't know anything about what happened there." And he didn't want to be reminded.

"I ran into Mack while you were gone. He was angry." She walked slowly toward him. "Do you really think Hector made the wrong choice, staying, saving you?"

"Don't!" he said. _She couldn't do this to him, not now._

"Mack said you're all trained to choose the mission over each other. How do you train to leave someone you love behind to die?" she asked and kept getting closer.

"Sara, don't push this," he warned, but she kept coming.

"If your positions had been reversed, would you have left Hector behind to die?" She stopped. They were so close he could see the tears streaking down her face and feel the warmth of her breath.

"Maybe Bob, Mack, or Jonas could do that, but I don't think you could. I think you would have done exactly what Hector did."

They stood there toe to toe staring at each other. If there was one thing Charlie had learned about Sara over the last few months, she wasn't a coward. He could feel the heat radiating from her body and see the determination in her eyes. Finally he wrapped one arm around her waist and crushed her to him. The kiss that followed was brutal, filled with frustration and punishment. Both of them were equal participants in a kiss that was fueled by anger, regret and unfulfilled hopes. Conscious thought was stripped from his mind leaving only need behind.

"No," she muttered, and pushed him away.

They were both breathing heavily in stunned silence.

"Sara," he said and reached out to touch her when he saw that her lips were raw from the bestial kiss they'd shared.

"Give these to Molly and tell her to do whatever she wants with the house," she said as she backed away and dropped her house keys on a table by the door.

"Good-bye…Charlie," she whispered and walked out of his life.

After Sara left, Charlie sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. That kiss should never have happened. He had lost control. The questions she was asking were things he'd avoided thinking about for weeks.

He disregarded the pang of jealousy he felt in his gut when he thought about the men that would be flocking around her in DC. Annie was the woman for him. Sara would find someone who could give her what she deserved. She'd be happy. He continued to try to convince himself that he had done the right thing, but all the while he wondered if Sara knew him better than he knew himself.

Sara had driven a couple of miles on the interstate before she pulled off onto the shoulder and laid her head on the steering wheel. Why had it taken her so long to find out what was keeping the two of them apart? But deep down, she knew why. She'd been afraid of losing him. When she saw him kissing Annie, it was already too late.

She'd put so much of herself into that cute little house, but she left it behind along with the man inside. Both would now belong to someone else.

She didn't know how long she sat there sobbing, but as the sun started to come up, a police officer knocked on the driver's side window. She hadn't even heard him pull up.

"Mam, are you all right?" he asked as he took in her swollen eyes.

_How bad did she look? He probably thought she was drunk or high._

"Yes, officer," she said. "I'm sorry. I just pulled over for a few minutes. I'll be fine," and she decided that she would be, eventually. As the officer got back in his car and drove off, she realized it was time to put Fort Griffith behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

"Absolutely not," Sara was emphatic. "When you told me that you were bringing a controversial figure and that I should be prepared, you never led me to believe that it might be him."

Charlotte Ryan had been trying to calm Sara down for the last fifteen minutes. She was almost to the point of hyperventilating, and Charlotte couldn't really blame her.

"Here," she said, "just put in your earpiece and everything will be all right."

"Mrs. Ryan, I have no intention of translating for that… animal," Sara said.

"Shhh, he'll hear you. You won't be translating for him directly. As you know, he speaks English quite well. You will be translating for the other members of his diplomatic group. Think of it as helping the Korean people."

They were standing just outside the conference room where Mrs. Ryan and her delegation were to be a part of a diplomatic round table discussion on world hunger. The purpose was to establish the building blocks for higher level meetings to take place in the future. Korea was one place that had been severely affected by recent weather anomalies that had caused a shortage of food in parts of the country. Sara had been happy to participate in the conference if she could help in any way.

"I don't care if he hears me," she said in a voice that was getting louder by the minute. "Mrs. Ryan," she continued, "that man tortured me and killed my baby. You cannot expect me to treat him as though it never happened."

She was standing in a doorway off to the side of the conference room where she couldn't be seen by those who were already inside. _Jung-Su_, Sara thought, _of all people_. _Why wasn't he in prison?_

He was accompanied by a woman with long blonde hair, but she was unrecognizable due to the oversize hat and sunglasses she was wearing. The way they touched made her think they were lovers. Sara didn't know whether to hate her or feel sorry for her.

"Just put in this earpiece, dear," Charlotte said.

"All right, give it to me, but this doesn't mean I'm doing any translating." She put in the earpiece and then turned to leave.

"Sara." The voice was clean and clear. It was a voice she hadn't heard for months, but would never forget. It evoked a wash of emotion and stopped her in her tracks.

"It's Charlie, Sara."

She didn't move. Once she regained her bearings, she found that she was afraid to move. Afraid that if she did move the voice would go away and she'd never hear it again.

"I'm sorry. I know what we're asking is next to impossible, but we need you to do this for us."

_Us? This was a mission?_ He was here in Washington tracking Jung-Su. Her anger flared and she put her hand to her ear with the intent of pulling out the earpiece.

"Sara, don't."

It wasn't likely, but she looked around anyway hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

"I'm close, Sara. I won't let anything happen to you, but we need you to do this for us. It's just one day. I would never ask you if it wasn't important."

Blue continued talking as Charlotte Ryan came up beside her and started pinning an American flag to her lapel.

"The flag is a small camera and microphone. We'll be able to see and hear everything. Mrs. Ryan has just dropped two tracking devices in your pocket. The one that is skin colored should be attached directly to Jung-Su's skin somewhere that's a little hard to see. It will dissolve into his system and we'll be able to track him for several days. The other matches the color of his suit. It needs to go under the collar of his jacket. He'll probably find that one, but until the first one becomes active, we'll be able to use it to keep track of his movements."

The thought of touching Jung-Su's skin was not appealing.

Sara looked at Mrs. Ryan. "I'm sorry about all of this, dear," but Sara could tell that she really wasn't. "This plan was my idea, so don't blame anyone else. We need to have someone close to him today, and he would never suspect that you are an operator."

"I'm not an operator," she said.

"That's right. Now will you do this for us?" Charlotte asked.

She was staring at a man that was pure evil and she was going to have to get a lot closer to him. Sara would never do this for Charlotte Ryan, but she would do it for Blue. "All right, I'll do it as long as Charlie is here."

"Good," Mrs. Ryan said. "I'll see you inside." Sara could see why Charlotte was so good at her job. When she went inside and started greeting diplomats, she didn't look at all like someone who was in the middle of a covert operation.

"I can hear you now, Sara if there's anything you want to say to me," Blue's voice came through the earpiece.

What could she say to him after the last few months? Several things went through her mind, but none of them were appropriate for an open microphone. She settled for business. "How long have you known about this?"

"I was three months into another mission and didn't hear about this plan until a few days ago. I made them an offer they couldn't refuse. I explained to Mrs. Ryan's people that you wouldn't do it without me. They agreed. In exchange I told them that if they asked ahead of time, you probably wouldn't do it."

"You were right. I wouldn't have done it, but then you do know me better than anyone."

"Sara."

"It's okay. I'll do it. Just don't expect me to like it."

Sara heard Blue sigh in her ear and a tingle ran up her spine. She would have to get better control of her emotions if she was going to make this work.

"He'll taunt you, undermine your confidence, and disrupt your emotions. I'm sure you remember that he's a master of intimidation," Blue said.

She nodded and walked into the room with her head held high. Jung-Su turned to face her, a grin spread across his face.


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh, this is lovely. My old and dear friend Sara," Jung-Su said. "And you are here as a translator, are you not?" He spoke to the other members of his party and introduced her in Korean. She bowed slightly as each one in turn took her hand. Jung-Su took her arm and kissed her on the cheek.

She started shaking and tried to pull away, but she heard Blue's voice like velvet in her ear, "Take it easy, Sara. I promise I'm very close. Oh, and Bob's here too. He asked me to tell you that he'll give you his knife so you can cut off genitalia. Uh, preferably not mine okay?" Then she heard him say to Bob, "Genitalia, really college boy? I can think of a better word."

A smile was on her face when Jung-Su pulled away. Sara didn't care if he mistook it for acceptance.

"Where is your friend, Sergeant Grey? Oh, I am so sorry. I heard that you two were not together anymore. If I had only known you were going to be here today, I would not have brought a date." He turned to his blonde companion and began speaking to her, but it wasn't in Korean.

"Russian," she said quietly and hoped that Blue could hear her.

"Bob agrees with you," Blue said.

When they were finished talking, the woman turned and left.

"Now you will have me all to yourself," Jung-Su said as he took her arm and led her toward the oblong conference table that dominated the center of the room. He pushed her into the chair right next to him. She pointed to the back of the room where the translators normally sat, but he had no intention of letting her sit anywhere but right next to him. He simply picked up a set of their headphones and slowly slipped them on her head.

"Allow me," he said. She only hoped he wouldn't spot the earpiece.

At first, she thought the growling noise in her ear was static from the headphones, but then she realized it was Blue. It comforted her to know that she was not the only one affected by the presence of this man. The headphones had a microphone attached, so she was finally ready to do her job. Several diplomats started to sit down at the table. She took those moments to take a few deep breaths.

It was then that she heard him. "Sara, nobody else can hear me but you."

She understood, just the two of them all alone in a room full of diplomats. Every one of her senses focused on that earpiece and his voice. It felt so personal.

"I'm sorry about this, Sara," he said in low tones, so sensual and intimate. The room felt overly warm and she felt flush. All the moisture from her mouth escaped to other places in her body. She rubbed her sweaty palms on the sides of her suit pants. If anyone noticed her physical distress, she hoped it would be construed as fear rather than arousal.

And then the conference began. The room was called to order and she had to start listening and translating for her Korean employers. It was so hard to focus, especially when all she wanted was to listen to Blue's voice.

Jung-Su laid his hand on her arm, a slimy smile on his face. She resisted the urge to lift his hand and throw it back at him. Instead, she gently extracted her arm from his touch. Surely he didn't think she was aroused by him, but then he put his hand on her thigh and laughed. The man was truly evil.

A welcome break for lunch came after a couple of hours of focused debate. The catered luncheon was to be served right there in the conference room. Sara was surprised at how dedicated Jung-Su had sounded about the plight of his country. If she didn't know him better, she would have believed he really cared. It just went to show how good he was at deception.

Everyone stood up and stretched. Body guards flooded in as diplomats went for short walks to the closest restrooms. When Jung-Su pulled out her chair, all she could think about was getting out of the room. But when she started down the hallway, she heard the voice in her ear. "No, Sara. Stay with him. Don't let him get too far away."

The hallway was teeming with the diplomats, their body guards, their translators, and assorted other assistants. Jung-Su ran right into her as she searched for him near the restrooms. As he spoke, he took her arm and leaned into her as though they were having and intimate conversation. She tried to pull away, but he was too strong.

"You know, I expected to see Sergeant Grey sometime over the last few months, but I have not. Has he gone back on the promise he made to me in Korea?"

"I haven't forgotten my promise to that son of a bitch," Blue growled in her ear and then his voice softened. "Someday I will make him pay for what he did to you, Sara."

She wished she could relay Blue's message, but instead she said, "I'm sure whatever promise Charlie made to you, he intends to keep, but as you said, I haven't seen him in several months."

"And you do not call him by his endearing nickname anymore. Tsk, Tsk, what a shame. I hope I did not have anything to do with the demise of your relationship with 'Blue,'" he added.

She couldn't take anymore. She pulled away and walked quickly to the stairwell at the end of the hallway. She would skip lunch and take that time alone to collect herself and calm her breathing.

She sat on the first step of the stairs.

"I'm here, Sara. You're doing great." She jumped when she heard his voice in her ear. She'd forgotten that she wasn't alone.

"Charlie, I'm not sure I can do this anymore," she gulped. "How do you do it? Don't you ever get scared?"

"Sure, I feel scared, but I practice over and over until I'm confident with my preparation. Then whatever emotions are left get locked away. Like Mack told you, we train. Emotions block rational judgment and clear thinking."

"Not everybody can control their emotions that way. It must take some very special people," she said.

"I'm not that special, Sara. When Jung-Su put his hand on your leg, I wanted to crash into that room and tear his damn head off."

"But you didn't."

"I knew you were safe. Me and Bob were close and he was never going to get a chance to hurt you."

He paused and then said, "Before you left for DC, you asked if I could have left Hector behind in Beirut if our positions had been reversed. I've thought about that a lot. You were right about me. I don't think I could have. Maybe I'm just too hard headed to let anything get in my way. Bob says to tell you that it's less complicated than that. He says I'm just a pain in the ass. Personally I think it's the other way around."

She'd forgotten that others were able to hear their conversation.

"Why hasn't Jung-Su been arrested?"

"Never charged, diplomatic status, powerful friends, lots of money, take your pick. Listen, Sara, you can do this. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"I'll try," she finally said.

"I admire your courage. I always have."

She hesitated but then thought this might be the last time she would get to speak with him, so she said, "I… miss you."

"I miss you too, more than I thought I would."

Just then Charlotte Ryan opened the stairwell door. "Hon, you've got to get back inside. They're about to start."

Sara reluctantly joined Mrs. Ryan and went back to the conference table.

All Sara could think about as she approached Jung-Su was how much he reminded her of a snake.

"We missed you at lunch, my dear. Are you all right?" Again he pulled out her chair and slowly put on the headphones, but this time, she slipped her hand up his shoulder and pushed the transmitter into the collar of his jacket.

"I'm just fine," she lied and got ready to resume her duties.

"Good work," she heard in her ear. "Don't worry if you can't attach the other one. That's good enough."

There were arguments and some ugly words in the next segment of the conference. Sara tried to keep up, but they started talking so fast, she found it difficult. Finally the moderator called it a day. This time, Sara kept her seat.

She took off the head phones and tried to listen to every word Jung-Su said. His cell phone went off and he made a quick getaway into the hall. She tried to follow discreetly. When she saw him open the cell phone and slip away from his bodyguards into the restroom, she followed. There was a wall that blocked the inside of the restroom from the view of the outside world. She pressed against it and listened intently.

"There is a lot of background noise and I can't hear very well. Where are you, Sara?" she heard Blue in her ear, but she couldn't answer without giving away her position.

"You're too close. Get out of there," he said when he figured out where she was.

Finally she pulled the earpiece out and put it in her pocket. She couldn't focus on what Jung-Su was saying while listening to Blue at the same time. His voice was just too much of a distraction.

"No, Leon, I am not worried," Jung-Su said. "She is good cover. Just make sure you take care of your part. Yes, yes, I will see you then." He snapped his cell phone closed and then cursed in Korean. Sara didn't think Jung-Su was bothered by anything until now.

She slipped out of the restroom door and hoped that she hadn't been seen. She quickly put the earpiece back into her ear. "Charlie, he was talking to someone named Leon, something about a woman being good cover, and he was mad. He cursed in Korean."

"Sara you have no idea how much I enjoyed being with you today." She had just finished talking to Blue when Jung-Su caught her just outside the restrooms in the foyer. He took her arm and led her to the front door and down the steps to the street.

"I wish there had been time today just for us. We could have arranged for more than just conversation." He leered at her in a way that made her skin crawl. "Unfortunately this will be my last diplomatic trip to Washington, but I am sure we will see each other again."

This time instead of a kiss on the cheek, he grabbed her and kissed her full on the mouth. She heard the profanity ringing in her ear. Blue in control of his emotions, she thought, but then she remembered what he had said. His tirade comforted her enough so that she could push her emotions aside if only for just a minute. As Jung-Su prolonged the kiss, she reached up and pressed the transmitter patch onto his neck under the collar of his shirt and then patiently waited until he finished.

When he pulled away, he said, "Well, you have gained some self-control, Sara, very good. I have a feeling that our next meeting will prove to be very interesting. He laughed as a limousine drove up. The blonde with the hat and sunglasses got out and greeted him with an arm around his waist and a gentle kiss on the lips.

As soon as the limousine drove away, she sat down on the steps of the building and tried to catch her breath. She had held it together as long as she could. "Charlie," she moaned feeling dizzy, but he wasn't there. The voice in her ear had become silent. It was over. He was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

It took a long time for Sara to calm down enough to catch a cab and get back to her apartment. The cab ride was long and gave her too much time to think causing the shaking that had started hours ago to intensify.

Fumbling for several minutes with her apartment keys left her feeling like a drunk without the benefit of alcohol. Maybe a hot bath would settle her nerves, but no matter what she did, she'd never be able to sleep that night.

No new assignments were scheduled for the next few days, but she would rather have gone to work. She was not going to be able to relieve this pent up tension sitting around the apartment.

When the key finally fit into the lock and the door opened, she dropped everything and fell onto the couch. She didn't even bother to turn on the lights. Her heart was still racing from the combination of fear of Jung-Su and the excitement of hearing Blue's voice in her ear.

_What was that?_ She felt movement on the other end of the couch? Someone was there.

She sprang up like a jack in the box.

"I didn't mean to scare you," said the voice. His back was to the window and there was faint light coming through the curtains that outlined his head and shoulders. She'd know that silhouette anywhere.

"Charlie," she said.

"Thank you for what you did today. You were amazing. I know it was tough, but we were able to gather…"

"Charlie," she interrupted. She didn't know how much longer she could stand what she was feeling without some kind of release. "Is there a woman in your life?"

"What?"

Her arms looked relaxed at her side, but her fists were clenching and unclenching at an amazing rate. "Are you still with Annie or is there another woman?"

"There's no one else, Sara. I'm alone."

Without knowing it, she'd been holding her breath. It came out in a whoosh that would have embarrassed her if what she was about to say wasn't far worse. So many emotions flooded her brain, but frustration was evident in her voice. "All day long, it felt like you were pressed up against my back, leaning over my shoulder, your husky voice in my ear keeping me calm, soothing my nerves, and at the same time making me crazy. It was the most incredibly erotic experience I've ever had. I'm about ready to explode, so if you can't help me with what I'm feeling then you've got to go."

It was dark, so she couldn't gauge his reaction. She stopped unclenching and dug her fingernails hard into her palms. Her heart was racing, and it was getting a little hard to breath. When he got up, she was afraid he would walk right passed her and out the door.

He came within inches and stopped. He was so close. The urge to reach out for him was almost undeniable. She started shaking even harder and was afraid that he would be able to see it, but then he kissed her, not just a peck on the cheek, but a full blown, passion-filled, mind blowing kiss.

_Yes, _she thought.

She launched herself into his arms wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Bedroom?" he asked.

"You mean to tell me that Sergeant Grey, Super Soldier did not recon this apartment upon entry?"

A slow grin spread across his face. He headed straight through the bedroom door and when he stumbled, they both tumbled onto her bed laughing.

They didn't come up for air until after two in the morning. It had been the wildest night of abandon she had ever experienced. But now they were quiet and she was lying next to him, her hand wandering aimlessly across his chest. He would leave soon. He wouldn't be able to stay. She didn't even know if he would want to.

* * *

"Did I help you with your problem?" he asked.

"Um," was her only answer.

"Then are you ready to talk?"

"No." She rolled over on top of him and tried to seduce him back into the frenetic pace they'd set earlier, but he slowed her down. She had been clear about what being with him that day had done to her. He wanted her to feel what she did to him using long strokes and slow kisses. The ride he took her on would be one of pure pleasure.

* * *

She was finally sleeping. He'd forgotten about the little noises she made when she was asleep, but it wasn't the first time he'd heard them in the last couple of days. She didn't know that the recon he had done on her apartment had been the night before the conference.

Afterwards he'd stayed to watch her sleep. Jung-Su had been in town by then, and he wasn't about to leave her alone. The chair next to her bed was uncomfortable as hell, but she had stayed with him in a similar chair for several nights after he came home from the hospital. One night wouldn't break him.

He'd helped her with her problem and then some, but she still hadn't wanted to talk. He understood why.

It was just the two of them.

For the first time in months there wasn't anything standing between them. If only it could stay that way, but life seemed to find things to pull them apart. He slid down in the bed, tugged her as close as he could, and dozed in the warmth created by their bodies.

The beeping of his phone woke them both.

"Go for Grey." He left the bedroom but watched her through an opening in the door as she put on a robe. When he came back, she was sitting on the bed. "I have to go. Bob and me left another mission to come here. We have to get back."

She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

What could he say? He couldn't promise her anything. He kneeled in front of her and kissed her as sweetly and with as much feeling as he knew how to give. When he finally pulled away, he took her in his arms and hugged her tighter than he ever had.

He reluctantly let her go and started to leave. He turned back to her, but still didn't know what to say. A tear slid down her cheek, and she nodded as if to tell him it was okay. They stared at each other a few more seconds before he finally gave up and left. This couldn't be the last time they would ever see each other, but with the life he led, nothing was certain.


	12. Chapter 12

"Turn that up," Sara said to the cabbie.

"To repeat, the President-Elect is missing after an attack took place on his motorcade headed for Colorado Springs following the assassination of Vice President Charles Horton in Rome."

"Oh my God," she said.

"Yeah, ya didn't hear?" said the cabbie. "The Vice President thing has been on the news all morning. This other thing with the President-Elect is new."

Finding a dress for the Correspondent's Dinner would have to wait. She had been looking forward to using Charlotte Ryan's ticket to attend the prestigious event. After what had happened, it would probably be postponed anyway. The President had been scheduled to speak. It would have been one of his last public appearances before leaving office. After what had just happened, Sara doubted that he would be allowed out in public.

"This doesn't worry you?" she asked the cabbie.

"Naw, they'll send someone to take care of it."

Sara knew exactly who they would send.

"Turn around and take me back to my apartment," she said.

"Ya sure, mam?"

"I'm sure. Take me back." That feeling of nausea returned, the one that had been plaguing her every morning for the last few weeks. She hated the thought of tossing her cookies in the back of the cab, but it probably wouldn't be the first time that had ever happened.

She paid the cabbie and barely made it to the bathroom before she lost everything in the toilet. When she started feeling better, she turned on CNN to see if there was any news about the President-Elect.

"The latest report says that there have been shots fired in the woods near the NORAD complex. Sources say that teams of soldiers have been searching for the President-Elect, but there is no confirmed connection between the shots and the search. Let's go to our live broadcast on a highway a few miles from the NORAD complex. Jim?"

"This is Jim Sully reporting live from Cascade, Colorado. There are unconfirmed reports of searchers in the woods in this area looking for the President-Elect. His motorcade was attacked just a short time after the assassination of the Vice President. No connection has been made as yet between these two incidents…"

"Jim, Jim, we need to break in. There has just been a report of an explosion at the house of the Vice President-Elect. We're going to a live feed from our affiliate, KTOU in New Jersey."

"Yes, this is Sally Rider here outside the home of the Vice President-Elect who was killed today by an explosion at his home here in New Jersey. There is no report yet on other injuries or fatalities or whether there is any connection between this and the assassination of the Vice President and the disappearance of President-Elect Benjamin Castillo. We'll keep you updated as we get further information."

Molly, Sara needed to talk to Molly. She grabbed her cell phone and called the number she had saved, but she got strange feedback that said that the number was no longer in service. When she tried again, she got the same type of information. Both Tiffy Gerhardt's and Kim Brown's numbers offered the same response. Sara didn't know who else to call. If Blue was on a mission, which she was sure he was, she couldn't call him. She realized that at least for now, CNN was her only source of information.

* * *

"You are all being relocated," Colonel Ryan said in a briefing with the Unit wives and their husbands who had just returned from successfully bringing President-Elect Castillo to safety. "Ladies, you've seen the surveillance video showing that prior to the attacks yesterday each of you was being watched and your movements recorded. That video was found in the possession of one of the coconspirators that was killed. The Unit will be working out of your new location; however, I will remain here in the command center to monitor further developments. You'll be on a bus tomorrow morning headed for your new home. That's all."

The colonel headed for the door, but Charlie stopped him as he left the briefing. "Colonel, could I have a minute?"

"I don't have much time, but I can give you that minute."

"Colonel, about that surveillance video, were either Annie or Sara on it?"

"I can't comment on other specifics, soldier, but I can tell you that Annie and Sara were not on the video that we confiscated. Since they have both relocated already, I would say that they are in no danger."

Charlie was relieved to find out that both women were safe. "Colonel, would it be possible for me to contact Sara?"

"I wouldn't recommend it. We know that these people are not only targeting this Unit, but also their families. Any contact could lead them right to Sara and might put her in jeopardy."

Charlie thought about it for a minute, and then said, "If I leave a letter for Sara, would you be able to give it to her in case she comes looking for me."

"Do you expect her to do that?"

"She might, Colonel."

"All right, then, soldier, before you leave, give me the letter. I'll keep it locked away in my safe."

"Thank you, Colonel."

* * *

Annie was safe. Charlie still cared about her, but after the kiss he and Sara had shared as she left for DC, he knew that he would never feel for Annie what he felt for Sara. He had owed Annie, though, so he tried, but the first time he was called on a mission, Annie hid his cell phone. Mack came banging on Annie's door and told Charlie to get his ass to "The Cave."

When she admitted that she had hidden his phone, she said, "I can't take this. I can't wait around wondering if you're going to end up like Hector."

He couldn't blame her. Hector's death was going to hang over them both for a long time to come. While he was gone on the mission, she packed up and moved out of Missouri and in with her parents until she could get back on her feet.

Sara was safe too. Damn, he wanted to be with her, but fate seemed to be throwing more obstacles in their way. Maybe it was best for both of them if he stepped out of Sara's life and let her move on without him just like Annie. Loving Sara didn't seem to enough to keep her from being hurt, especially by him.

Once he finished the letter for Sara, he packed his bags and got ready to move to wherever the colonel sent him.

* * *

The flutter in Sara's stomach told her that she had waited as long as she could. Weeks had passed since the day of the President-Elect's attack, and she hadn't been able to contact Molly, Kim, Tiffy, or Blue. She'd left messages with Colonel Ryan, but none of them were ever returned. She decided it was time to find out what was happening. She placed a call to the airport and got a ticket on the first flight to Missouri.

Delays at the airport made the wait there much longer than it should have been, but Sara knew that it was because of added security following the attack on the President-Elect. The plane ride had been a bumpy one which hadn't helped the queasiness that seemed to hang with her most of the morning each day.

Her first stop after arriving was her old house. Molly had never contacted her about selling or renting it, so she assumed it was sitting vacant. She had always kept a key under the little plant by the door, and as luck would have it, the key was still there.

She let herself in and was stunned by what she saw. The living room had been completed. There were beige easy chairs to match the lone couch that had been there when she left. The tools and dirt were gone replaced by carpet and end tables. She went to the kitchen and found all new cabinets as well as a new stove and refrigerator. Even the counter tops had been replaced. The laundry room located off the kitchen had contained an old coin operated washer and dryer. A couple of quarters were always on hand just so she could do laundry, but they were gone replaced with brand new appliances.

The bedrooms were next. Of the two, only one of them had been finished, so that's where she searched. There was a definite male influence, dark wood, cherry maybe, and dark colors, browns and greys. She opened the closet. It was empty, but someone had been living there and had completed most of the work on the house.

Browns and greys?

Frantically she started opening drawers looking for some hint as to who might have been there, but they were all empty.

She didn't run across anything until she opened the bathroom door and found an empty laundry hamper. Tucked in behind it, almost not visible was a T-shirt. When she pulled it out, she recognized it immediately. She held it close, Blue. Not only had he been living here, but she would have bet money that he had finished the house, but why?

She folded the shirt and stuffed it into her purse along with the house key. What she needed wasn't there, so she locked up the house, got in her rented car, and headed for Belleau Woods housing complex on base. Someone had to have some answers.

* * *

The daily routine of Fort Griffith was in full swing by the time she arrived. Her destination was Molly's house, but she drove slowly through the base allowing memories to come flooding back. She missed this place, but more than that, she missed her friends who lived there.

Molly's house was on the same cul-de-sac as the Brown's and the Gerhardt's. It didn't take long for her to realize that all three of their houses were vacant.

She was looking in the window of the Gerhardt house when a corporal decked out in full fatigues came up behind her and took her by the arm.

"Mam, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," he said, but it seemed more like a command than a request.

"No, sir, I'd rather not, and please let go of my arm," Sara said as he nearly dragged her to a very military looking vehicle waiting at the curb.

"I'm sorry, Mam," he said, but didn't seem sorry as he dumped her into the back seat.


	13. Chapter 13

"Where are we going, Corporal?" Sara asked but when he didn't answer, she sat back in the Humvee and tried to relax.

He drove up to the rear entrance of the Three Hundred and Third Logistical Studies Unit. Sara knew this to be the cover as well as the command center for Blue's unit. She was delivered to the office of Colonel Ryan and ordered to wait. The corporal stood inside the door watching her as though she might make off with a rubber band or a paper clip. A side door opened and in marched Colonel Ryan. The corporal who had been watching her left immediately by the other entrance and closed the door behind him.

"Sara Franklin," the colonel said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the front of his desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Colonel, I came here looking for Molly Blane. When I called, I received an automated message saying that her phone was no longer in service."

"So you immediately thought you would come here all the way from Washington D.C.?"

"No, I waited a few weeks, but I couldn't get a hold of Kim Brown or Tiffy Gerhardt either. What's going on here, Colonel? Their houses are obviously empty."

"Ms. Franklin, I'm sure you've been hearing on the news about some incidents involving key members of our government. A lot of the information surrounding those incidents is classified, but I can tell you the factions involved targeted not only members of our government, but also members of this Unit. For their own safety, we have relocated them to a secure area in another part of the country."

"Are they all right?" She was concerned about Molly, Tiffy, and Kim, but her real fear was for Blue.

"They're fine, Ms. Franklin, and before you ask, no, I can't tell you where they are. That's as much for your safety as for theirs."

The colonel was telling her that regardless of what the media had said, the attempt on the life of the President-Elect and the deaths of the Vice President and the Vice President-Elect were all connected.

"Colonel, I understand the need for secrecy, but I need to get a message to Sergeant Grey."

The colonel looked down at the round bump that was forming at the base of her stomach. "Yes, I can see that you have something to tell him." The colonel opened a panel behind a plaque on the wall which revealed a hidden safe. He began spinning the dial. "Before relocating, Sergeant Grey left you a letter in case you ever came looking for him."

When the safe opened, the colonel pulled out a sealed envelope. Her name was scrawled on the front in Blue's handwriting.

"I will have to be present as you read this, and as soon as you're finished, the letter will be burned."

Sara's hand was shaking as she took the letter from him. "I understand."

"Good." He went around to his desk and began reading some of what Sara assumed were reports. It gave her as much privacy as she was going to get.

There was something heavy inside the envelope along with the letter. When she opened it and turned it upside down, a key fell out along with a set of dog tags. Could those be…? She stared at the dog tags for a couple of minutes before reverently lifting them. It didn't surprise her to see the name Hector Williams stamped into the cold metal.

She started to sniff and a couple of tears escaped her eyes. If Blue had given these to her, he didn't expect to come back. She didn't hear the colonel come up behind her, but he was kind enough to hand her a box of tissue.

"Can I keep these?" she asked and held up the dog tags.

"I don't see why not," he said as he sat back down at his desk.

She turned the key over in her hand. It was identical to the one she had in her purse that she'd used to open her house. Her shaking intensified, so she found it tough to unfold the letter. Finally she smoothed it out on the table and began reading the handwriting that she easily recognized.

Sara,

How to start? Damn, I hate writing letters. The house, I hope you like what I did to it. Maybe in the back of my mind, I thought we'd live in it together some day, but that time has passed. If only I could be with you when you see it.

The mission we're on is important, and I don't know how long it will take to complete it. You've been waiting for me ever since we met, Sara. I know if I asked you to wait for me again, you would, but that wouldn't be fair to you. It's time for you to stop waiting. You're safe in D.C., but you wouldn't be if you were here with me. Move on and live your life.

I was lucky to find you once. Maybe someday I'll be that lucky again. Take good care of yourself.

Blue

P.S. You're the only one I trust to keep those dog tags safe.

It didn't escape her notice that the letter was signed, "Blue," small consolation if he wasn't coming back to her. She saw some small characters written at the bottom of the page. They were Korean. The message read, "Find happiness where you can." Tears that she couldn't hold back any longer rolled down her cheeks. The only happiness, she'd known over the last few months was with him.

She rubbed her fingers across the lines of writing on the page. If only she could keep the letter, but she knew she couldn't. "Colonel, could I leave a letter with you the same way that Charlie left one for me?"

The colonel didn't look sold on the idea, but he said, "I suppose."

A letter was the last way that Sara would ever want to tell Blue about her situation, but there didn't seem to be any other way, and he had a right to know.

"Could I borrow a pen and some paper?" she asked the colonel.

He handed her a piece of paper. "Make it quick, Ms. Franklin. I do have other duties here besides pen pal exchange."

Sara ignored the sarcasm. How could she put on paper something so important? The colonel was growing impatient, so she finally settled on three short sentences. She signed it quickly and folded it.

"Thank you, Colonel. I hope you understand how important this is."

On her way out of the colonel's office, Sara ran into a very tall blonde with beautiful eyes and a figure to match. She looked at Sara as though she recognized her, but Sara knew she'd never met her before.

Finally the woman said, "Excuse me," and went into the colonel's office.

As the woman closed the door, Sara thought about the letter she had left with Colonel Ryan. It was the only link she had to Blue. Would he ever see it?

"Mam, are you ready?"

She'd been lost in thought when the corporal who had brought her to the colonel's office touched her arm. With his mission accomplished, Sara found him to be much more pleasant.

"I'm sorry, corporal. Yes, I'm ready."

He drove her back to the cul-de-sac where her car was parked. She didn't know where else to go, so she drove back to her little house, the one where Blue had been living. Before she broke down completely, she closed the door and locked it behind her. All this talk of safety had her looking over her shoulder every minute.

After the door was locked, she took the shirt and the dog tags out of her purse. She went straight to the bedroom and curled up on the bed holding the dog tags tightly in her hand. She pressed the shirt to her chest. Tears began to flow, and she didn't try to stop them. Blue wasn't coming back to her. She rubbed her stomach with her empty hand. The baby inside her was all she had left of the man she loved so dearly.

* * *

Bridget Sullivan was the newest member of the Unit. Even though women weren't officially a part of the Unit, the colonel had decided to keep Bridget on after she helped the team get the President-Elect to safety when they were in Colorado. She had come to the colonel's office to report on some findings regarding their current mission, but had run into Sara Franklin on the way in.

Before she closed the door to the colonel's office, she saw that he was burning two letters. She caught a glimpse of one just before it went up in flames and was able to read what it said.

Blue,

I'm pregnant with your child. I love you. Come back to us.

Sara

She tore her attention away from the letters. "Colonel, I have some new information on Joss Morgan. We've been able to trace her movements over the past several years but there are some gaps."

"Gaps, Sullivan?"

"Yes, Colonel. We've discovered that she lived in Moscow for two years and has lived in several other places around the world. Dubai, Egypt, Japan, Korea, Syria, her travel itinerary over the past few years has been extensive, but we haven't found any reasons for all of that travel. She isn't involved with the day-to-day operations of her companies. We do know that she has friends all over the world, some of them with sketchy backgrounds. We're still looking into that. Also, we can't place her whereabouts on the day President Castillo's motorcade was attacked."

"That's a major concern," the colonel said. "We need that information."

"I agree, sir. We'll do our best to get it."

"Good work, Sullivan" the colonel said as he dropped the burning letters into a metal can next to his desk. "Keep digging. We need to know more. That woman came to Aerodyne Alliance using an aviation issue as an excuse. The owner of Morgan Aviation and Morgan Aerospace shouldn't have to come to an unknown aviation company to find solutions to an aviation problem. While she was there, she asked an awful lot of questions but wouldn't answer any. We need to find out why. Is there anything else?"

"No, sir," she said and started to leave, but then turned back around and said, "Yes, there is, sir. Wasn't Sara Franklin the woman that just came out of your office?"

"Yes, it was."

"She's pregnant."

"Very observant, Sullivan. What's your point?"

"Does Sergeant Grey know?" She pointed at the metal bucket that now held the embers of two letters that the colonel had burned.

"No, and you're not going to tell him."

"But Colonel…"

"That's an order, Sullivan. We are at war. We need all of our covert operators involved in bringing these people down no matter what the sacrifice."

"Sir, don't you think that should be Sergeant Grey's decision?"

"Sullivan, Sergeant Grey is a most valuable member of Alpha Team. When he signed on, he knew that he would have to make sacrifices for his country. He has made contact with a woman who may very well be a player in the group that attacked our country. He can't be distracted by personal matters. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said. Bridget understood sacrifice. She had been willing to sacrifice her career when she helped Sergeant Blane find his daughter, Betsy, and rescue her from Syrian terrorists. But she left the colonel's office wondering what _personal_ sacrifices she might be required to make before this was all over.


	14. Chapter 14

"This is the address, my dear," Jung-Su said to the blonde woman sitting with him in the back of his limousine.

"You really think he'll take the bait?" she asked.

"The man is vulnerable right now to the attentions of a pretty girl. Remember how eager he was the first time you met. Just follow the directions I gave you and everything should go as planned."

"Will you be back in North Korea?"

"No," he sighed, "I am finished with those bureaucrats. They have been checking into my finances. It is just a matter of time before they find out what I have been doing with all that money they have been giving me. Now is the time to get out." He put his arm around the blonde woman and pulled her back into the comfortable leather seats in the limousine. "I know where you will be." He smiled. "I will contact you. Just remember the part you are supposed to play." He paused. "The old man has stuck his nose in this twice. Will he cause more problems?"

She snapped her head around. "Leave him out of this. I mean it, Jung-Su. I'll take care of him. Just leave him alone," she said vehemently.

He could see that he was going to have to calm her down. Even though he thought he might have to deal with the old man himself, but that would come later. He took her into his arms, and just before he kissed her, he said, "Relax, my dear. As long as you keep him from interfering, I have no intention of bothering with him."

* * *

"Colonel, you asked me to call you if Joss Morgan contacted me again. She came by my apartment today. The information I gave her was exactly as we had discussed."

"How did she find you?" the colonel asked Charlie over the satellite phone.

"She wouldn't say, but she wants to get married. Right now, Tiffy Gehardt and Kim Brown are filling her in on the life of a Unit wife."

Charlie heard what sounded like choking on the other end of the phone. "Married? After only one date? Son, I definitely underestimated your talent with women."

"Colonel, I'd like to think she's not involved in all this." Charlie remembered his recent mission where he'd had to take down his old friend Rock Diaz. He didn't have so many friends that he could afford to lose another one.

"I'd like to think that this group won't make another attempt on the life of the President, but we both know that it could happen. Keep your eye on the prize, son. If she's involved, she may lead us right to the ring leaders of this circus."

"You're not saying that you want me to marry this woman?" Joss's mother and father were dead. She lived with her father's former crew chief. William Carson had needed more than just a declaration of love and affection to allow Charlie to see Joss, but even with a promise of marriage, Carson still threw him out. He wasn't looking forward to climbing that mountain again.

"We'll keep this assignment low key, just between the two of us for now. Everyone has to believe this is the real McCoy."

"But, Colonel…"

"Keep up the good work, Sergeant Grey. I look forward to your next report."

Before Charlie could say another word, the colonel had turned off the satellite phone. Real McCoy? Did that mean he would really marry Joss? Damn, married! He had thought that when the time came, he would be marrying Sara.

Sara. A day didn't go by that he didn't think about her. She was safe. That was the most important thing. The best way to keep her safe was to do his job and stay away from her. He had to remember that this job was his life, the only life he knew.

* * *

Sara had been back in Washington DC for two months, and she hadn't heard from Blue. Her round belly was only getting larger. She alternated from being so depressed she could hardly get out of bed to being so angry that she had trouble concentrating.

Each assignment she took seemed to wear her out. Her busy schedule revolved around the needs of diplomats and politicians who weren't always the most punctual. But the nights were so much worse. All she could think about was Blue. Where was he? What was he doing?

At times she wondered if she should just try to forget about him and get on with her life. He had told her to do that so many times that she was starting to think he was right. When they were together, though, there was a kind of magic that she knew she would never find with anyone else.

The letter she left at Fort Griffith never got to him. Blue would have contacted her if he knew she was pregnant with his baby, but then she didn't know what kind of turns his life had taken over the past few months.

For some reason, that night, sleep was particularly difficult. She turned over in bed again. There wasn't any way to find a comfortable position. She felt like a beached whale. Her morning sickness had long since gone, but it was replaced by other discomforts that she knew she would only have to put up with for a little while longer. She was looking forward to having Blue's baby, but every once in a while, she would feel the baby kick and she wished that he was there to feel it with her.

She finally got out of bed. Trying to sleep was useless. She turned on the television and had trouble finding a station to watch. She finally settled on CNBC.

"_Klaus Koleman reputed war criminal was gunned down on the streets of Switzerland today in broad daylight. A woman who was the great grandchild of concentration camp victims shot him, laid pictures of family members on the corpse, and then surrendered to police. Witnesses claim that others were involved, but police would not confirm or deny this report. Once again, Klaus Koleman reputed war criminal shot dead in the streets of Switzerland. In other news…." _

Sara tuned out the rest of the broadcast as she sat on the couch. Would Blue's unit have been there? Could they have been the "others involved"? She laughed. Not every incident that occurred around the world had to include Blue. That was just her imagination working overtime.

The phone rang. Sara looked at the clock. It was the middle of the night. She was concerned because nobody would call her at this time of night unless something was wrong. She cautiously approached the phone almost as if it would bite her if she answered it. Finally she lifted the receiver.

"Hello," she said with some apprehension.

"Oh, Sara, I'm glad I caught you." It was Charlotte Ryan.

She was constantly calling to check on her. If Sara didn't know better, she would think that Mrs. Ryan felt guilty for asking Sara to translate for Jung-Su's party of diplomats. Sara did know better, though. She wondered what motivated someone like Charlotte Ryan.

"It's the middle of the night, Mrs. Ryan. Where else would I be?"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I forgot about the time difference. Well now that you're up, I'll tell you why I called."

Sara's apprehension grew. It wasn't like Charlotte Ryan to make a mistake like forgetting about time zones.

"Is something wrong?" Sara asked.

"Well, yes and no. You see, there is a… development of which I thought you should be made aware."

"Mrs. Ryan, please, I'm tired and I'm not in the mood for riddles."

"Charles Grey is getting married," she said bluntly.

Sara waited for several seconds before what she had heard sunk in. It took a few more seconds before any of her thoughts would turn into words.

"Married?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, dear. I know you're fond of him. If you'd like, I could find out when and where."

Sara hung up the phone. She stared straight ahead and walked into her bedroom. She opened a drawer and pulled out the worn brown t-shirt she had found at her house when she visited Fort Griffith. When she rubbed it against her cheek, the tears welled up in her eyes. Without blinking she fell onto the bed and sobbed into that t-shirt until her tears were gone. Then she laid there unmoving. The sun came up. The alarm blared on the night stand next to her bed. She shut it off, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom.

She looked at herself in the mirror and rubbed her hand across her bulging belly. "It's just you and me now," she said and felt a kick. Like a robot, she stepped into the shower to start another day.


	15. Chapter 15

"In case you haven't been paying attention, we killed the son of a bitch that did this," Mack said as he and Charlie looked down on the grave of Hector Williams.

Charlie had been shocked when Mack came back from his last mission saying that he remembered seeing the man who had killed Hector. The whole team tried to pin him down, but all he would say was something about Hector coming to him in a dream to show him what he missed on the day he was shot.

Since then, they had spent weeks tracking down the assassin, to the point that they started wondering if he was something out of Mack's imagination, but finally they found him. Killing him didn't bring Hector back, nothing would, but it closed a chapter in a story that still felt a little unfinished.

After giving Hector a mini salute, Mack took a swig of the Jack Daniels that he had brought for the occasion and handed it to Charlie. Mack gave Charlie a swat on the back and walked to his truck that was parked up the hill giving Charlie some time alone with Hector.

There were so many things that Charlie still wanted to say to Hector. Even though he didn't believe in all that paranormal crap, he still felt a little cheated that Mack had seen Hector even if it was only in a dream.

"Hey buddy, I'm getting married. Bet you never thought that would happen," Charlie said and took another swig. "You wouldn't want to come back and give me away, would ya?"

Silence filled the air just like the first moment after a bullet was fired.

"No, I guess not," he sighed. "It's not Sara, though. I know you liked her. This isn't a match made up there in heaven where you are. You don't wanna know where this match was made," he said and then ironically added, "Love the one you're with right?"

The burn of the whiskey was becoming familiar as he poured more down his throat. "Shit." His lungs expanded as he tried to push the emotion out of his voice. "I really miss ya, man."

Mack would give him as long as he needed, but Charlie could only handle so much before he broke down, and he didn't want anyone to see him like that. Finally he said, "Put in a good word for me up there, will ya? I'll need it."

He took one last drink from the bottle after holding it up in salute for his friend and headed back to Mack's truck. The drive back to Fort Griffith was going be a long one.

* * *

Charlie had been back from Wisconsin for a week. The visit to Hector's grave had left him questioning his own mortality and this life he had chosen. Once it had served a purpose, getting him off the streets and then allowing him the honor of fighting for his country, but how much did his life really mean if he couldn't share it with the one he loved. In the last few months, what had always been so clear to him was now cloudy and uncertain. He was questioning orders, questioning missions. Maybe it was time to reevaluate his life, but until he could sort it all out, he still had missions to complete.

He hadn't seen Joss since he'd been back, so he called her and made a date for lunch, but she wasn't at the restaurant when he arrived. He waited for a while, and then looked around for her outside the restaurant with no luck. When he tried her cell phone, the call immediately went to voice mail. Charlie wasn't exactly worried, but standing him up wasn't Joss's style.

He finally gave up and was on his way back to the team's temporary headquarters at Aerodyne Alliance when he spotted a traffic accident and went to investigate. Chlorine, that intense smell was what he noticed first, but he was soon coughing so much he could hardly breathe. The air was full of it. He poured water on a rag and tied it around his mouth to filter out some of the foreign particles.

There was a semi sitting in the middle of the road, but when Charlie checked, he found that the driver was dead along with a cop who was lying next to his black and white. A father and his son were on the other side of the truck, alive, but struggling. Charlie made sure they were safe in the semi's air-tight refrigeration trailer. Before he was finished, he had helped four other people into the back of that trailer, safe from the fumes, for now.

If this was an attack, it was a good one. People would be caught unaware just as he and the others inside the truck had been. He wondered how widespread it was.

Hours passed. Charlie spent most if it thinking about Sara, and as the air in the truck thinned, he was relieved to know that she wasn't there with him. She was safe in Washington. Guilt filled him over the tears she'd shed so often for him. He was glad she didn't know about this whole thing with Joss. It would have been one more thing in a long line of things he had done to hurt her.

Charlie could easily recall every moment he and Sara ever spent together, the good as well as the bad. He wondered what she was doing right at that moment. Was she alone? Did she ever think about him? She was the last thing on his mind as he passed out.

When he started to come back to the land of the living, he saw Jonas holding a mask over his mouth. Oxygen filled his lungs and he started feeling a little more human again.

The air seemed to be free of the chlorine. "How bad is it?" he asked.

Jonas said, "We don't know yet."

Charlie recognized his mates holding similar oxygen masks over the noses and mouths of the others inside the truck.

By the time ambulances arrived on the scene, Jonas and the rest of the team had long since gone after making sure that they had done all they could for Charlie and the others inside the truck.

"No, I'm fine," Charlie said when a paramedic tried to escort him into one of the ambulances. "I don't need to go to the hospital."

One of the women who had been stranded with him in the truck tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, she said, "I'll never be able to thank you enough. You saved my life and the lives of my children, and I don't even know your name."

Charlie helped her into an ambulance. "They'll talk to you at the hospital about taking it easy for a few days. Good luck, mam."

"But, sir, what's your name?"

He just smiled as he closed the door and gave it a sharp wrap with his hand to tell the driver it was clear to leave.

After making sure that all six of the people he had been stranded with were safely on their way to the hospital, he got in his truck and headed for Aerodyne.

_Damn_, he thought as he passed the bodies of so many innocent people who had died in an attack that had probably been meant for them. _What a waste of life! _

When he arrived at Aerodyne, it was a relief to see that the Kim, Molly, Tiffy, and her kids were all safe. Kim Brown was more at ease just knowing that her children were staying with her parents in Texas.

Colonel Ryan was among them. He had flown to California as soon as he had the intel he needed to share with the rest of the team. "It was an attack, ladies and gentlemen, an attempt on your lives that may have also been a dry run for something bigger. There were lives lost, no doubt about it, but the overall plan failed thanks to Jonas and the rest of the team taking out the opposition at the water pumping station where the chlorine was being poured into the local water supply. Well done. After this, I'm inclined to consider moving you all back to Fort Griffith. I think we've done as much as we can here."

There was a knock on the door, and Charlie answered it. Joss barreled in, grabbed Charlie, and hugged him.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "Sierra Ridge was all over the news."

"We're all fine, Joss. It's a good thing you missed our lunch date."

"Today?" she asked. "Were we supposed to have lunch today? I thought you meant tomorrow."

Charlie was looking at Jonas when he said, "It was a good thing, then that one of us misunderstood."

Molly was watching the scene between Charlie and Joss play out in front of her. Charlie did and said all the right things for a man who was about to be married, but she had seen him with Sara, and she could tell that this was different. No matter what he and Sara were feeling whether it was frustration, anger, or happiness, it came through loud and clear to those around them. With Joss, everything was muted. Joss and Charlie might say one thing, but something in their eyes or their actions said something entirely different. Molly couldn't quite get a handle on what was wrong.

She had been helping with the rushed wedding plans, even though she had concerns about Joss's sudden appearance in Charlie's life, in all their lives. Bridget Sullivan shared her concerns, but nobody else seemed at all worried. Joss was embraced by everyone. As fast at things were happening, Molly was sure that the wedding would take place before they went back to Fort Griffith, and that bothered her.

She didn't know when, but before this wedding took place, she had to find time to talk to Charlie alone.


	16. Chapter 16

Was this the right thing to do? Molly wasn't so sure, but she was at the door of Charlie's apartment and had already knocked, twice, so the dye was cast. She might have waited too long, but for the last few weeks Charlie had been away on one mission after another, and she had been busy with plans of her own. This was the first chance she'd had to speak with him alone. So here she was the night before Charles Grey's wedding standing at his door waiting for an answer.

He wasn't here. Of course he would be out celebrating the night before his wedding. She was just about to leave when the door opened.

"Molly?"

"Charles, I just wanted to see you before…"

"Come in, please." He shooed her inside and looked both ways before closing the door behind her.

"I just came to give you my wedding gift. I really thought you'd be out having a bachelor party or with Joss," she looked around the living room at the uncharacteristic mess, "but I see you're having your own party here."

There was no place to set her gift because empty bottles of beer and even some empty whiskey bottles covered every flat surface in the apartment. He didn't seem drunk, but he had obviously been drinking for a while.

"Just celebrating my last night of bachelorhood, sit down," he said but his eyes told her he wasn't celebrating. They were filled with a melancholy that made her sad.

Hoping for some kind of answer she could understand, she sat down on the couch and asked, "Charles, why are you marrying this woman?"

He sat down on the chair opposite the couch. "I told you, Molly. She's the one. I just know."

"Yes, you said that before. I didn't believe it then, and I still don't believe it. What about Sara?"

Silence filled the room. She had struck a nerve.

When he looked away from her and didn't seem to have an answer, she continued, "If this woman makes you happy, then I'm happy for you both. But I think you still love Sara, and I know that she loves you."

"There are bigger things than love, Molly."

"That's not true."

"Then why are you leaving Jonas?"

She was stunned for a moment but then stood up and said, "That isn't what I came here to talk about."

The decision that she had made to leave Jonas wasn't something she'd shared with many people. After years of being patient hoping that Jonas would retire, she had finally given him an ultimatum, the one that no Unit wife was ever supposed to give her husband, the Unit or me. His answer hadn't surprised her, but it saddened her deeply; he wasn't ever leaving the Unit.

Before her tears started flowing she added, "Please think about what I've said. It isn't too late for you to change your mind."

"I won't change my mind, Molly. As much as I'd like to go back and do some things over, it's too late for that now."

She wasn't getting anywhere, so she started to leave. "I'm not going to be at your wedding tomorrow, so I may not see you again. I just want you to know that I care about you and hope you'll be happy." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Good-bye, Charlie."

* * *

Molly's visit was unexpected. He knew he was floundering in self-pity, and he hadn't wanted anyone else to see it. When he closed the door behind Molly, he felt like he was closing himself off from another friend. He couldn't afford to lose many more.

He was committed to the course he was on and nothing was going to change that, but for just a moment he wondered what would have happened if after the mission involving Jung-Su, he had stayed in DC or taken Sara back to Fort Griffith, but another mission had been waiting in the wings for him, and once again, he had left her behind.

_Can't go back,_ he thought, _so there's no use wondering about something that can't be changed_. This was his job and his life. He downed one of the open beers on the table and went back to the fridge for another. The party that he'd started before Molly arrived continued with a vengeance.

* * *

The wedding ceremony had gone without a hitch, but the absence of Joss's friend and mentor William Carson took him by surprise. Charlie had thought he would give her away during the ceremony, but he wasn't even there. It confirmed some of the suspicions he'd been harboring.

"Charlie," The scream took everyone by surprise and pierced through the solemn silence of the occasion.

He looked away from Joss and saw that Sara was in the doorway entering the room where his wedding ceremony had just ended.

"I'm so sorry," Sara said as the muscular man in the chauffeur's hat dragged her at gun point into the room.

Two things hit Charlie at the same time. Sara was very, very pregnant and surrounding her beautiful round belly was a green military vest that looked like it was wired with explosives.

As he stepped away from Joss and tried to go to Sara, the man shoved the barrel of the gun roughly into Sara's temple. Just as Charlie stopped, Sara moaned and doubled over at the waist as far as her stomach and the vest would allow.

He heard Joss behind him say, "She's in labor."

That's when the man with the gun opened a laptop computer and lifted the screen until the others in the room could see a familiar face.

"What a lovely wedding, Sergeant Grey. I hope I have not spoiled it."

Charlie would know that voice anywhere. It was Jung-Su.

"I am sorry we are late. I so wanted Sara to hear you say 'I do,' and let her watch as you kissed your new bride, but as you can see we ran into a little trouble on the flight. Sara is so much stronger than she was at our first meeting, so when she told me that women are not supposed to fly this late in their pregnancy, she was rather angry and resisted my efforts to get her on the plane. Of course that was right after her first contraction several hours ago. Since then, I have enjoyed watching her struggle as each one was a little more intense than the last. It seems as though we are right back where we started. You see, once again, Sergeant Grey, the baby is yours."

Charlie glanced at Sara. She nodded and tried to come forward, but the man with the gun grabbed her arm and pulled her backward into his chest.

"What do you want?" Jonas said.

"Sergeant Blane, I knew your entire Unit would be present along with your families at young Charles's wedding. My partners have become tired of your interference in their affairs and found this to be an opportune time to eliminate you all. I agreed wholeheartedly plus I had the added bonus of coming to this lovely wedding, but where are the flowers, the bridesmaids, the decorations? Folding chairs, is this really the best you could do? Tsk, Tsk, this lovely bride deserves more I think."

Jung-Su's tone became brisk as he addressed his henchman holding Sara. "We are done with the pregnant one. Bring me the one in the wedding dress."

The muscular man roughly shoved Sara to the ground and motioned for Joss to come with him. She shook her head and stepped back, but when he pointed the gun at her, she forced her nose into the air like a true debutante and came to him willingly.

Charlie started to reach for her, but Jonas stepped in and held him back. He looked Charlie right in the eye and said, "She'll be fine. You know that."

Charlie nodded and stepped out of the way.

"Sergeant Grey, always the hero. This time I think you have come out ahead in our trade. I am leaving one and half behind and only taking one in return. Oh, by the way, do not try to follow my man. He is activating a switch as he leaves that connects several explosive charges around the room to sensors on the doors and windows. I think you remember my set up in Korea. I was so disappointed when you destroyed it, but I found a better use for it. This time, you cannot set off the charges without killing everyone in the room. It has been an interesting experience knowing you all, but the time has come for our association to end."

The man closed the laptop, pulled Joss outside and shut the door. Several things happened at once. Charlie ran to Sara, tore off his jacket, and put it behind her head. Bob checked the windows and doors. Mack collected purses, wallets, cell phones, and all other personal items. "Sorry, folks, but this is an emergency situation."

There had to be twenty wires connecting the vest Sara was wearing to the detonator and the explosives hidden inside each pocket. The colors were all different from green, to purple, to white. Charlie had diffused a lot of bombs, but he'd never been this nervous before.

He looked up into Sara's teary eyes and said, "We have to stop meeting this way."


	17. Chapter 17

"How can you be flip at a time like this?" Sara asked as she punched Charlie in the arm.

"Ouch," he said and rubbed the sore spot where she had hit him, "I'm gonna need that arm."

He began looking more closely at the wires connecting the vest to the explosives. "I'm just really happy to see you, Sara, especially today." And he was happy to see her, even though the circumstances weren't ideal. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Well, let's see, you're married, your wife has been kidnapped, I'm about to deliver your baby, and I'm wearing a bomb!"

_Good,_ he thought, _her anger will override her fear._ The longer he could keep her distracted, the better chance he had to keep her from panicking.

Then she surprised him. "Yes, I am happy to see you," she sighed.

He smiled, "You're an amazing woman, Sara Franklin."

All eight pockets in her vest were filled with bricks of C-4. At least three wires of various colors were connected to each brick all of which were connected to the detonator that was on the top of her left shoulder.

She doubled up into another contraction. He stopped checking her vest and began gently examining her. "How far apart are they?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe five minutes," she groaned as the pain subsided.

He sat back on his heels. How was ever going to figure out which wires to disconnect at intervals of five minutes or less? She was going to deliver soon which would present another set of problems. He did his best to hide his worries from her.

"I didn't know you were pregnant," he said.

"I left a letter with Colonel Ryan like the one you left for me."

He gaped at her and swore viciously. Her eyes widened as his calm demeanor disintegrated into violent anger. It took more than a few deep breaths to bring him under control.

Finally he said, "I never got the letter, Sara. I'm sorry." He would deal with Colonel Ryan later.

She smiled feebly. "I know. You would have come."

Her words humbled him. She had more faith in him than he deserved.

Sara doubled over again as another contraction overtook her. They were coming faster than five minutes.

"You have to hold still," Charlie said softly.

Her breathing was coming in short pants until finally her body loosened, and she put her head back down on his jacket. "I'm in labor. I can't help it."

_Damn, this is going to be tough._ He was going to need all the help he could get.

The knife he always carried with him wouldn't be enough. "Tools. Hey, I need some tools over here," Charlie yelled.

At Charlie's feet, Tiffy and Kim dumped purses and emptied wallets that Mack had collected. He would be able to use some of this stuff. The penlight and eyeglass repair kit looked the most promising. "Thanks, ladies," he said.

Mack returned from his recon and made his report to Jonas. "No cell signal, Top. Sat phone won't work either," Mack said. "The sensors must be blocking the signal somehow."

After careful inspection of the windows and doors, the information Bob brought back wasn't much better. "Looks the same as the hut in Korea except there are sensors instead of trip wires, complicates things quite a bit.

Jonas said, "Mack, see if you can find the main control for these sensors."

"On it, Top," Mack said.

"Bob, look for ways to get around the sensors and see what kind of explosives we're dealing with."

"Consider it done," Bob said.

While Jonas went to Charlie to assess his situation, Tiffy and Kim gathered as many loose clothing items from wedding guests as they could.

"What's your status here, Sergeant Grey?" Jonas asked.

As much as he would have liked, Charlie couldn't keep his emotions from coming through in his voice. He and Jonas stepped away to keep Sara from not only hearing what Charlie was about to say, but also to keep the unsteadiness of his voice from her ears. He took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"I'm… gonna need your help," Charlie said. "Sara's in full labor. While she was on Jung-Su's plane, her water broke. She needs a medic to help deliver her… our baby, but she also needs an explosives expert to diffuse the vest."

His voice cracked when he added, "Top… I can't do both."

"We can help with the baby," Kim said as she and Tiffy brought the clothing they had gathered.

Sara tried to sit up. "No, Kim, you and Tiffy stay with your kids," she said as she pointed to the vest. "Stay away from me." A contraction hit her hard. She doubled up again and moaned loudly.

Charlie tenderly laid her back down and then cupped her cheek with his hand, "It doesn't matter where they are in this room; the danger's the same."

When the contraction subsided, Sara cried, "I'm so sorry about this. I've put you all in danger."

"None of this is your fault," Kim said as she put her hand on Sara's arm. "It's ironic that we managed to survive so much only to be ambushed at a wedding." She shook her head. "Charlie, what can we do?"

"If you and Tiffy are willing to help, I need one of you to put your hands on Sara's shoulders and hold her down when she has a contraction. Her body needs to stay level and stable once I start working on the vest."

"I'll do that," Tiffy said as she came around to Sara's head.

Sara glanced up at Tiffy. "Look at your girls," Sara said. "You should be so proud of them."

Tiffy's daughters had been standing behind her, but now she was facing them and could see what they had done. Lissie, her oldest daughter, had taken on the responsibility of Kim's three children and both girls were handling crowd control. The remaining wedding guests along with the chaplain had been corralled together in one corner of the room.

Tiffy smiled. "I am proud of my girls. They've grown up so much in the last few months. I guess Mack and I haven't completely screwed them up."

Jonas said, "Kim, give me some of those clothes and help me with the birth. Charlie, that leaves you free to work on the explosives."

Charlie nodded and began the task of working on the vest. If he allowed his emotions to overwhelm him, he wouldn't be able to save anyone. He would have to rely on his training.

"Mack, Bob, situation?" asked Jonas. Before he started concentrating on the birth, he wanted to know where they stood.

They zipped over to where Jonas was seated. Bob said, "Mack has an idea about the sensors."

"We need all the cell phone batteries," Mack said. "If what I want to do works, we're home free."

"I'm going to be busy here, so make it happen, gentlemen," Jonas added. Mack started gathering together cell phones from the pile of miscellaneous items that had come out of purses, wallets, and pockets. Jonas turned his attention back to Sara who was starting to have another contraction.

She looked up at him and said, "Where's Molly. I need her?"

"Well, Sara, the truth is she left me. I drove her away. You have no idea how much I wish she was here right now, but you're just going to have to make due with me."

"I'm so sorry, Jonas," Sara groaned.

"I know I'm a poor substitute, but I'm all you've got" he said. "Tiffy, you'll have to work harder to hold Sara down when she has a contraction. Kim, give me that jacket your holding." She started to hand him one, but he said, "No, the blue one, it's bigger. Put it over her waist and legs. Ladies, gentleman, let's get this show on the road."


	18. Chapter 18

The chauffeur shoved Joss into the backseat of the limousine and closed the door behind him. He quickly jumped in the front door, started the engine, and pulled away.

"Come closer, my dear, and let me see you in your lovely wedding dress," said the man shrouded in shadows.

Joss hesitated for a moment too long. A hand reached out and grabbed her strapless dress in the middle of the bodice and yanked her forward until she was on top of him. He kissed her hard, and at first she resisted, but it wasn't long before she responded with the same fervor.

When they finally separated, she fell back into the seat, but he kept his arm wrapped tightly around her.

"How does it feel to be a married woman?" Jung-Su asked.

"You were supposed to get there before I said 'I do,'" she gently scolded.

"A minor complication. Pregnant women are so unpredictable. Besides you will be a Unit widow before long. Think of all the sympathy. You might even find some other soldiers who would be willing to help you through your grief. Your access will be unprecedented. We just have to arrange for your 'rescue.'" When he turned to look at her, she had a sad look on her face. He touched her chin and lifted it toward him.

"What is wrong, my dear?"

"You didn't tell me she was pregnant." Joss was starting to wonder what kind of man she was with. She'd always known that he was ruthless. It made him exciting and powerful, but she'd never thought of him as a murderer of pregnant women and children. The only consolation she had was that William Carson was safe. He mattered more to her than anyone in her life, and she didn't want to see him hurt.

"Jealous? Do not tell me you had feelings for Grey?" He shook his head. "Poor Joss, they were together after the conference on hunger, before you met him."

He misunderstood, but she didn't correct him. "Of course I'm not jealous."

"My dearest Joss, all of this will soon be a memory and you will be well on your way to becoming a most valuable resource. You have played your part admirably."

She nodded and put her head into the crook of his neck, but she hid her face because she was afraid it would betray the feelings of concern she had for the people she had left behind.

* * *

Charlie felt the sweat bead on his forehead and run into his eyes as he cut the last of the wires on the vest. Instead of the explosion he feared, he heard the cry of a newborn baby. Kim was wiping the baby as clean as she could and wrapping it in a soft t-shirt volunteered by one of the wedding guests.

She handed the baby to Sara just as Charlie unhooked the vest and pulled the explosive charges away from her body. He had never had a tougher time disarming a bomb, not because it was the most complicated one he had ever faced, but because every decision he made was punctuated by Sara's moans of pain and the movement of her body as she gave birth to their child.

Mack and Bob were making headway with the sensor array that was blocking the exits. He could help, but as hard as he tried to get up and leave Sara and the baby, he just couldn't take his eyes off them. The baby's sparkling blue eyes never left Sara as she ran her hands through the sprinkling of dark hair on his head while he kicked his feet and blew little bubbles.

Jonas reached over, shook Charlie's hand, gave him a pat on the back and said, "Congratulations, son. I'll go help Mack and Bob. You stay here with your family. Now let's see what we can do about these sensors."

"He's beautiful," Kim said. "What are you going to name him?"

Sara looked up at Charlie and said without hesitation, "Hector Jonas Franklin."

Charlie corrected, "Grey. Hector Jonas Grey."

"But…" When she started to argue, he just grinned at her.

"Charlie?" she questioned.

The hair around her face was laced with perspiration, and dark shadows underscored her eyes. He pushed some of the loose strands away from her cheek and kissed her delicately on the forehead. She had never looked more beautiful. He tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat.

She saved him the trouble by saying, "I love you both."

* * *

As it turned out, Charlie didn't have to leave Sara and little Hector. Bob, Mack, and Jonas managed to trick the sensors by mixing some women's cosmetics together to form a light, transparent glue. As they attached the batteries to the sensors, the metal blocked the signals while the power generated inside was enough to fool them into thinking they were still transmitting and receiving. They were able to open a hole in the sensor grid large enough to allow everyone to leave unharmed.

Once they made it outside, they were able to get a phone signal and called for help.

Charlie was relieved when the bomb squad arrived followed shortly after by an ambulance. After the bomb squad took the diffused vest away, Charlie started to climb in the ambulance with Sara and little Hector, but the EMT put his hand up and stopped him.

"Only family, sir."

Charlie gave him a hard look. "She's the mother of my son, and you're not leaving here without me."

Charlie sat down on the bench next to Sara and gently kissed her and his son. When he looked back at the EMT he said, "Are we going to the hospital or not?"

The stunned EMT closed the door and tapped on the window separating the driver from the back of the vehicle. Flashing red lights and a loud siren fired up along with the engine. There was a brief jerk forward as the ambulance pulled away. They were on their way to the hospital.

* * *

"Should you be out of bed?" Blue asked as Sara hobbled up to the window of the infant viewing room.

"My doctor tells me that exercise is a good thing." She twisted slightly and grabbed her back. "But I'm not sure I agree with him."

They both looked through the window at their newborn son.

Blue smiled, "Thank you, Sara. There's no better gift in the world."

He took her hand in his and squeezed. Sara turned and saw the peace and contentment on Blue's face, but then she remembered that he wasn't hers. He was married to someone else. She tried to let go of his hand, but he wouldn't let her.

"No, Sara. We've been down this road too many times. I'm not risking us ever again."

"How can you say that? You're married and your wife is missing. Shouldn't you be out looking for her?"

He took her hand in both of his and bent down on one knee in front of her. "I'm making a promise to you here and now. I'll do whatever it takes to keep us together from now on."

Sara looked around to see if anyone was looking. "Get up, Charlie. You can't do this."

"I'll leave the Unit, move to DC, whatever it takes."

By the time he stood up, she was crying. "Charlie," she started, but he helped her back to her room and gently set down next to her on the bed. He wouldn't let go of her hand. She just stared at them clasped together in her lap.

"Joss and I aren't really married."

Sara was shocked. "What do you mean you aren't married? I was there. You just finished kissing the bride."

"It was Colonel Ryan's idea that I marry Joss," Charlie said, "but Brigadier General Ryan is no longer in charge of the Unit, so at the last minute, Jonas and I decided to alter the plan. The man that performed the ceremony was an actor we hired to portray a chaplain. The marriage is a sham."

"But why?"

"I can't tell you why, and you can't tell anyone else that my marriage is a fake."

She shook her head. "Joss is out there somewhere thinking that you two are married. What happens if she comes back and wants you to live like man and wife? I don't care how important it is; I won't share you with anyone. Annie was almost more than I could take."

"This isn't like it was with Annie. You won't have to share me with anyone. I promise. I've made so many mistakes and most of them ended up with me walking away from you, but that isn't going to happen again. From now on, no matter what, I'm coming back to you and our baby."

He put his finger under her chin and leaned in as if to kiss her, but she pulled away. How could she believe him?

He looked her in the eye and said, "We're at the end of the line, Sara. It's up to you now, but know this… I will do whatever it takes to earn back your trust."

She felt his arms slipping around her waist, but this time she didn't resist. He kissed her tenderly. "I love you," he said in a husky voice that she remembered from their time together in D.C. After all this time, I finally realized that I never stopped loving you. I lost my way, but I've found it again. I've found you again, and I'm not letting you go."

This time when he kissed her, she felt his carefully restrained passion unraveling.

She pulled away breathing heavily. "I can't…, I can't…, I can't…"

The grin on his face was blinding. In his eyes, she saw the sparkle and mischief that she remembered. This was the man she met in Korea, the one who almost made love to her in a restaurant parking lot on their first date, and the one that she thought might have died with Hector Williams in Beirut.

"I know, Sara. It's too soon, but do you see that the passion is there… just waiting for us to catch up?"

Somehow he would make it work. She had faith in him. It wasn't the end of the line for them after all. They still had a future.

"You know I love you too…" She paused and let the smile on her face grow. "I love you too, Blue."

This time she poured the emotions she was feeling into her kiss and let him absorb them, all of them. She found herself hoping that it wouldn't take long for them to catch up to the passion that was there… just waiting for them.

* * *

**These stories about Charlie and Sara have been so much fun to write. Thank you to those of you who have read and reviewed them. I hope you enjoyed the reading as much as I enjoyed the writing.**


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